Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-03-29

| Fifty years ago tomorrow, the c1tl-
zens of Ottumwa, then small hamlet,
were shocked by the brutal murder OF
Laura j. Harvey and George Lawrence
by Benjamin McComb. The murder oc-
Cured March 20, 1860 and the body
Of the murdered woman was found in
! the Des Moines river. Following tho
murder BENJAMIN McComb who was
found guilty of the charge in the Wap-
| clio county district court came near
being victim Of an Infatuated mob,
but the mob's plans were thwarted by
six law abiding citizens. McComb,
after being saved from lynching was
confined in the Wapello county Jail,
but later escaped. He was captured
soon after. AS his attorneys had car
ried the case to the supreme court
| that body affirmed the decision Of the
lower court and McComb was hanged
This was the only legal hanging which
ever occurred in Wapello county. .
The True Story.
The true story of the attempted
lynching of McComb, the double MUIR
derer and the facts about the events
Immediately connected with the affair
has been told in an interesting article
found in the Courier files Of July, 1903
and signed by "a Young Old Settler"
His letter Is as follows:
Views the Body.
Editor Of the Courier: I was very
much interested in your article in last
Saturdays Courier, in relation to the
murder of Laura ]. Harvey and George
Lawrence, by Benjamin A. McComb,
March 20. 1860. There were few
inaccuracies in the account, but | sup
pose the 'ravages of time caused some
ones memory to be little defective
In relation to some Of the minor de-
tails of that horrible tragedy. The
next morning after the above occur
ence I was going down town when one
of my playmates shouted out to me
that a woman had been murdered and
thrown into the river last night, put
she had been gotten out and could be
seen at the vacant store room OF Chas.
Lawrence on the corner Of Main and
Court street. I repaired at once, to
the above location She was lying on
the counter. I was too small to look
into her face, so one Of the men IN
the room kindly lifted me up and |
saw the most Mountaineering sight
that up to that time had ever come In
to my young life. One eye was
fearfully blackened, the face and neck
were covered with severe bruises, and
finger marks were on the face ana
neck as though she had been checked
to death l Immediately went home,
told my mother what I had seen, ana
for months afterward If were out ait
er dark, that face as I saw 1t would
continually rise up before me.
Arrest of McComb.
"The official record in the case
shows that McComb was arrested IN
Davenport March 2, 1864, by three
officers in saloon, the information
which led to McComb's arrest DelAg
furnished by young officer stationed
at camp Mcclellan. McComb had
worked for this young soldiers father
for three years near Rockford, ILL.,
previous to the murder Of Laura ).
Harvey, and this young soldier, KNOW
ing that he was accused Of the crime
of murder, gave the information to
the officers, who arrested him. When
arrested McComb was engaged IN the
lucrative practice Of bounty Jumping
and supposed that that would be the
charge preferred against him, lnsteao
of murder.
'.He was brought back to Ottumwa
March 4, 1864 He admitted that ne
once lived near Rockford, but said his
name was Lansing B. McComb,' IN
stead of Benjamin A. McComb, the
party wanted. He had plenty OF
money on his person when arrested.
George w. Kitterman Of this city, who
at that time was member OF the
Thirty-sixth Iowa, and was going de-
tached duty at Camp Mcclellan. Dav'
export, was one of the soldlers detalleo
by the commander OF that post 10 az
sist in the arrest of McComb, winch
he took great pleasure In dong.
McComb's Trial.
.McComb's trial commenced June Z,
1864, in the district court In Wapeilo
county. Judge H. H. Trimble presid-
ing. He was found guilty Of murder IN
the first degree, and wednesday, June
IA he was sentenced to be hanged
Iulv 81, 1864, at IL o'clock noon. The
case was appealed to the supreme
court of Iowa, and pending the appeal
he was not hung the day he was SEN
fenced to be, but on that day large
number of people from the country
not knowing the case had been appeal
ed, came to town with the expectation
Of being at the hanging Shortly
after noon a great crowd gathered
around the Jail and voted almost
unanimously to hang McComb.'
sThe mob battered down the back
door of the jail, got McComb OUT anu
was going to usher him into eternity
at once by the hemp route, but no