The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-11-17
THE ROBBING OF GRAVES
INCIDENTS RECALLED BY ANDREW
ID. GRAYsON, OF MADISON.
The Grev.ome work of GhOuIs-An
Escapade of the Late Mai. JOna-
than W.

figured when he was a young man." said
Andrew J. Grayson. OF Madison. The In
cident occurred near Versailles in Ripley
county. the place made famous in recent
years by the lynching Of five men simulta-
neously. Oddly enough. Major Gordon and
his companions came near figuring in a
Iynching bee themselves. They only escaped
an untimely and shameful death at the
ropes end by making one of the most
thrilling leaps ever attempted by a human
being. The spot at which the p~erilous jump
was made by the young men in question is
known to this day as 'Gordon's Leap
II obtained the full particulars OF the
grave-robbery in which young Gordon par
ticipated from a veteran physician Of Madi-
son." continued Mr.. GraysOn. Il was sit
ting in the old Doctors Office one day chat
ting pleasantly with him when 1 asked him
suddenly II he had not in his long career
had some experiences that were Of more
than passing interest. I have had quite q
few he replied. with a smile.
Upon being pressed TO narrate some OF
his experiences he consented, and the first
story he told was that Of 'Gordon's Leap
Nearly fifty years ago. said the veteran
physician, the town Of Madison could boast
a medical institute. 1 was a student in the
school,. together with a number Of other
young sprigs that were DESTROYS Of receiv-
ing their initial instruction in that primitive
academy Of science.
WAS A MEDICAL STUDENT.
About that time Jonathan w. Gordon.
who afterwards turned to the law and be-
came one of the most brilliant advocates Of
inc Indiana bar, was a medical student.
He and a young man AIMED John Glass at
tended a course of private medical lectures
given by Drs. B. F. and A. ]. Mullen at
their office in the town Of Napoleon. not
far from Versailles, in which Gordon re-
sided.
DIR. ]. w. Mullen, a brother of the
Napoleon physicians Of the same name,
came one summer from a Philadelphia
medical college. in which he was taking a
course of instruction. TO visit his brothers.
He met and formed a close friendship with
young Gordon. One day he received from
Gordon a note saying that a body that
would be an excellent subject for dissec-
ton had just been buried in the cemetery
near Versailles and proposing that the trio,
Gordon. Mullen and Glass. make arrange
ments to lift the corpse from its resting
place. The recipient of the note entered
heartily into the ghoulish scheme and ar
rangements were made to carry it out.
1T seemed. however. that a DR.. Ander-
son, Of Versailles. was suspected Of enter
tanning body-snatching proclivities and the
people residing IN the vicinity of the ceme-
terry made preparations TO give him a warm
reception If he should make an attempt to
secure the subject in question.
LAT the appointed time Gordon. Mullen
and Glass set out for the lonely burial
ground. and when they reached the place
-nC began without hesitation the work of
~disinterring the coffin containing the COW
eted body. They had dug clear down to the
box and were raining blows on that with a
pick in order to force it open when the en-
ragged citizens in ambush descended upon
them with a fierce rush. The young fell
lows knew well that to be caught meant
nothing short of lynching. There was but
one way of escape.
"A few yards away was a precipice about
one hundred and twenty feet in height, the
top Of which looked down upon Laughery
creek. Fully fifty feet OF the cliff was
a perpendicular wall. To the young men
was presented the alternative of dying
surely, but disgracefully, at the hands of
the mob or OF risking a less shameful death
and possibly gaining liberty by leaping
over the frowning precipice. With Gordon
TO think was to act. Hurting himself like
a cannonbau towards the precipice and
shouting TO his comrades 70 follow, the dar-
ing youth leaped without hesitation over
the face OF the cliff. Fired by their leaders
amazing courage, Glass and Mullen jumped
after him. Down the trio plunged for, it
seemed, an interminable length Of time,
clutching frantically at branches Of trees
projecting from lodges, until at last they
fell in one quivering. painting heap Of hu-
mainly into a tangled mass of brush at the
bottom. which served TO prevent them from
being instantly killed.
a TREMENDOUS LEAP.
The leap would have been pronounced
suicidal by any one not under the stress
that weighed upon these young men. They,
however. escaped serious injuries and what
was better still. vengence of the mob.
Young Glass sustained a dislocation Of an
ARM. while Gordon and Mullen were simply
shaken up and bruised.
The trio of daredevils were a~fterward
arrested and brought to trial on a charge
OF grave-robbing, but fortunately made
good their escape through the astuteness
OF Judge Miles Eggleston, father OF the
famous author, who discovered a flaw in
the indictment against the young men.
Judge Eggleston at that time sat on the
bench of the circuit in which Versailles
was located.
Two Of the actors in that thrilling scene
have since passed 10 the great beyond. DR..
Mullen and Major Gordon. DR.. Mullen
practiced his profession with distinction
and profit for many years in the city Of
Madison, but Major Gordon changed to
the law. in which he achieved fame and
fortune. John Glass. when last heard from.
was a prominent physician in Colorado"
Il enjoyed the old doctors story so
much" said Mr.. GraysOn. that I besought
him to narrate another. Did you ever try
10 secure a body from the cemetery in
Madison? I asked by way Of a feeler.
Wei. I can't say that we did he re-
piled. There is but one authenticated in
stance Of bOdy-snatching in the Madison
cemetery, the body taken being that OF an
old colored man named Taylor. The rea-
son body-snatching was rare in Madison
yeas that we usually got our subjects from
rural g~raveyards. But 10 return 10 the
Taylor case: y son OF the old man was
employed as a messenger in the omce of
DR.. H, I'm Madison. and after his father
died the lad suspected his employer OF
having stolen the remains. This suspicion,
as I remember. was aroused by a remark