The record-union., 1899-04-25
JUDGE LYNCH.

THE ORIGIN AND EXPLOITS OF
THAT SUMMARY OFFICIAL.
Famous Vigilance Committee Or
ganized in San Francisco
Indiana Whitecaps.
| 1t is not at all surprising, in view of
the frequency with which lynchings and
various acts on the vigilante order like
the recent killing Of defenseless negro
prisoners in Georgia, are perpetrated in
the United States that Lynch law" is
considered an American institution. es-
pecially as no Less an authority than
Noah Webster attributes it's origin to
certain summary executions which took
place long ago under the direction of
Virginia farmer named Lynch The
tree on which the Virginia victims of
! Judge Lynch are supposedsto have been
hanged still stands Cor did, a. few years
ago. near Lynchburg, Va, and has
been pointed out to several generations
of sighfeseers. The truth with regard
to the origin of Lynch law, So called. is
different though there is a shadow
of foundation for the generally received
version.
| The original Judge Lynch was in re-
ality, Mayor, with judicial functions,
and his name was truly Lynch, but he
lived in Galway, Ireland, and not
Lynchburg, Va. This stern old fellow
had a son who murdered a Spaniard
at the time a guest at the Lynch home
One of the old accounts has it that the
murder was done that the Spaniard
might be robbed; the other and more
romantic version says jealousy was the
motive, the Spaniard having made love
to young Lynch's sweet heart At all
events, the adage. that murder will
| OUT came true and the criminal was
not only condemned to die by his faith
er, but actually hanged in front of the
Lynch door by the paternal hand The
| Inhabitants of Galway sympathz with
the son almost to a man, and that the
father declared his purpose in hanging
| his son was ito show a good example
| to posterity." Charles Lynch, a de
scendant Of Mayor Lynch, came to this
country in the eighteenth century, and
| settled near what is now Lynchburg
| When the revolution came he was an
ardent patriot and became a Colonel
in the continental army. He took great
delight in Furnishing ''Tories,'' as COL
onlstS who We're loyal to the King were
termed, the punishment generally be-
ing inflicted under the famous tree
mentioned. The punishment was never
capital, however, 'thirty-nine lashes on
the bare back for giving information to
the British being the rule
! A justifiable series of lynchings was
carried on by the famous Vigilance
Committee organized in San Francisco
in 1856. The first San Francisco Wig
lance Committee did its work in 1851,
and there were then a number of small
er organizations of the same general
purport in various places on the Pacific
Slope. These earlier committees were
called into being by a remarkable epi-
demic of unpunished crimes, and the
summary executions of 1851 made life
and property safer on the slope than
they had ever been before By 1856
/ however, there was a new order of
things. Taught respect for the law by
the vigilantes, the criminals of San
Francisco had managed TO get control
of the laws machinery by electing their
own sort as Sheriffs and Judges Under
the new regime no burglar, murderer
or highwayman needed to avoid arrest.
The jail was his safest asylum. The
way to legal liberty and the chance to
do more evil, lay through the court
room With one exception the newspa-
pers of San Francisco were in cahoots
with the rascals.
The exception was the Bulletin" and
James King, its editor let hardly a
day pass without attacking the current
administration of justice, SO called On
May 18th he published an especially bit
ter attack on one James Casey. Casey
met King on the street and shot him,
infiicting a mortal wound. A friendly
bystander led the murderer quietly to
Jail, where he believed he would be en-
tirely safe from any danger whatever
The jailer would guard him, and his
friend, the Judge, would release him in
good time. This was all right in the
ory, but it didn't work in practice The
next day the Chairman of the disband-
ed Vigilance Committee of 1851 called
meeting for the organization of a new
committee. On May 18th 5000 men
had enrolled, and a little later its or
ganization was openly perfected.
Then followed one of the most re-
markable periods in the history of San
Francisco. The Vigilance Committee
was not only openly organized, but it
secured headquarters on Sacramento
street, a main thoroughfare which it
fortified under the name of Fort Gun
nybags. Fort Gunnybags was soon
thrown open to public inspection, when
it was seen that it contained a reserve
stock of LOCO muskets, 200 rifles, more
than 400 swords, eleven cannon of vari-
Gus sizes, etc. The committees force