Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1909-02-10
A NIGHT OF TORTURE
It Brought a Fortune to Its Half
Strang|ed Victim.
AN INNOCENT MANS ORDEAL.
Twice Strung Up by Lynehers, He
Confessed to Murder and Was After
ward indicated and Recovered $685.
600 From His AssaiIants.

Confessed to Murder and Was After.
ward INDICATED and Recovered $685.
600 From His Assailants.
Late In the fifties of the last cen
fury George W. King was the pro-
prietor of a hotel in Oxford, twenty
six miles from Lafayette, Ind. In
1859 stranger arrived at the hotel
and gave his name as DR.. Rowe. He
told King that he had no money and
asked to be trusted for his board till
he could get practice In the place,
promising to pay him as promptly as
possible. King consented to the ar
rangement, and Rowe soon became a
favorite with the people on account Of
his companionable disposition and su-
perior intelligence. The doctor, how
ever, fell deeper and deeper in debt.
He had been at the hotel for nearly a
year when King reminded him one
morning that he had not paid any
thing on his board bill for three
months. The conversation. ii after
ward appeared, was overheard Ly
some one in the hotel thou~h moth
ing was thought Ct II ut the time.
A week after the conversation .awc
was called out late ut r'cNt tn s',e II
patient and failed 10 rcturn. v.
passed without any wer6 from I.im
and his disappearance seen WIS con
nected with the conversation tat Lao
passed between him ard the lan6l"rd
about the unpaid board One ri"ht
three months l. e. 4 party Of di-~ui"ed
men entered the hotel ard, ovCrpow-
ering King. took him to a woodland
adjoining the town.
He recognized the voices CT several
Of his captors and especially Of the
leader, who told him that he was sus-
pected Of numbering Rowe and de-
manded that he confess. King stoutly
maintained his innocence, and the
leader Of the mob ordered his com
panions Ito string him up" A rope
was placed around his neck, dozen
men pulled down stout limb, over
which the other end of the rope was
thrown, and when the limb was re-
leased 1t carried King off his feet and
left him hanging by the neck. He
was nearly unconscious when let down
and again ordered to confess.
After much delay he was restored
sufficiently to understand what was
said to him, and he again refused, de.
claring his innocence and saying he
did not know what had become Of
Rowe. 4 second time he was strung
up and second time let down. but
life was nearly extinct, and he was
much longer in being restored than be,
fore.
The luckless landlord knew he could
not pass through another such ordeal
and live, so he consented to confess.
He purposely heightened the confes,
sion in order to gain time and said
that he and two men, named Rogers
and Haggard, had poisoned some wills.
ky and induced Rowe to drink it. and
after his death they had buried him
In hollow some distance away. 1t
was nearly daylight when the confes.
sion was made. and the lynchers de.
termined to take King to jail in Lafa.
yette and then arrest Rogers and Hag
gard.
Before the Jail was reached day had
dawned, and King recognized his cap
tors as members Of the Horse Thief
Detective company Of Benton, Warren
and Tippecanoe counties, nearly all Of
whom were known to him. Confident
of his guilt. the men made no attempt
to conceal their identity. So great
was the excitement and so intense the
feeling against King that he waived
examination and went to jail, hoping
that something would turn up to es.
tablish his innocence
From the jail at Lafayette King ad-
dressed letters to editors Of papers I'm
Cincinnati, Chicago. st. Louis, Louis
vile and other cities, setting out the
circumstances Of his confinement and
asking them to keep his letter In the
papers in hopes that 1t might fall I'M
der Rowe's notice. The appeal was a
pathetic one and was copied into
many papers throughout the north
west.
Two weeks after its first appear
ance DR.. Rowe rode into Oxford and,
attended by number Of citizens, pro-
ceeded to Lafayette, where his ap.
pearance caused the immediate re-
lease Of the accused landlord. In ex
PLANTATION Of his disappearance Rowe
said he had left his home In the east
on account Of domestic troubles that
he had learned that his wife was on
her way to Oxford, and he had deter
mined to leave the place secretly In
order to prevent her from learning
where he had gone. He had gone to
a little town In southern Illinois, and
1t was there that he learned that the
man who had befriended him was sus-
pectcd of his murder and was In 1ail
In Lafayette.
AS soon as King was released he
brought suit against thirty-two men,
bers Of the Horse Thief Detective
company for $4,000 each and also
against the company rs corporation.
Thomas A. Hendricks, afterward vice
president, was his counsel, but the
case was not allowed to come to trial.
the lynchers compromising by paying
(ItNsr Ill