The Penn's Grove record., 1909-04-23
-FOUR LYNCHED BY
MOB IN OKLAHOMA
CattIemen Hanged For Murder OF
Former Marshal B0hbitt.
MILLER KILLED SIX MEN
Prominent Citizens of Ada Organized
and Marched to Jail to Over
power the Sherif-Electric
Wires Cut-City in Darkness.

Ada, Okla.-Four prominent cat
tlemen were taken from the city jail
and lynched by a mob of n hun
dred citizens. The victims were:
J. B. Miller, of Fort Worth, Tex;
B. B. Burrell, of Duncan, OKLA, and
Jesse West and Joe Allen, of Cana
dian, Tex.
The mob organized in the CONNER
cial Club rooms. 1t marched to the
Jail at three o'clock a. m. Only one
man stood guard at the prison, and
he was quickly overpowered, and the
four prisoners seized, taken to a near
by barn, and hanged from the rafters.
The bodies were cut down about
nine o'clock. There was little excite
ment during the l%ynching.
The men were held On a charge of
completely in the murder of ex-United
States Marshal A. L. Bobbitt, near
Ada, last February. Bobbitt was
shot from ambush on his way home.
Miller had killed six men in his
time, was a chum of the late Pat
Garrett, the notorious "bad man."
anu WAS Will GdIIttl WITCH AO was
killed at Las Cruces.
The l%ynching mob was composed of
many of the prominent citizens of the
city and only a few were masked.
So intense Vas the feeling during
the preliminary hearing of the men
that Judge Brown prohibitedthe pub
LEGATION of the evidence. Burrell was
a nephew of Miller and turned
States evidence against Miller, and
told of complete plans of West and
Allen to murder Bobbitt, a longtime
enemy of both.
The mob effected an entrance into
the Jail by tearing down a high fence
which enclosed it. AS soon as all the
members of the party were inside,
the leader pounded OIL the jail door.
Sheriff, we means business" he
called to the officer inside.
"You might as we'll go home,
boys" the sheriff answered. II will
never open this door. Duty is duty.
[ am here to observe the law and
protect these men,"
For reply three or four sturdy
members of the mob fell against the
1oor and broke it open. Inside, n
Of the party felled the sheriff with a
blow from his revolver.
Walter Peeler, seventeen years old,
a nephew of Miller, and also confined
in the Jail for completely in the MUIR
der, was not taken by the lynchers.
He turned States evidence and was
being held as a witness.
The electric wires were cut prior
to the hanging, and the city was
turned into complete darkness. But
for this fact no one would ever have
suspected that there had been a
l%ynching.
Bobbitt was killed on February
27, 1909. At dusk he was driving
in his wagon a few miles out of Ada.
The assassin mounted and rode away.
There was no evidence save the shoes
on the murderer's horse, which had
been removed a few miles from the
crime. Miller and his companions
were suspected of knowing who COM
mitted the crime.
Two weeks ago the prisoners were
placed under arrest at Fort Worth
and brought to Ada for trial. Miller
had his preliminary hearing and was
held without bail. The authorities
alleged that Allen and West, who
wealthy cattle men of Canadian,
Texas, hired Miller to kill Bobbitt,
Burrell paying Miller the money. AL
len, West and Bobbitt we're neigh
bors in Seminole County, and the
trouble is alleged to have been due
to an old disagreement.