Year: 1876

ldTiHeT OF DdFDourSNlllt, dDOut 20 years
of age, married to a rather attractive
woman of about the same age, the faith
er of three children, the oldest boy Of
seven. Edmund Williams, young man
of "a, had been working for him and
living in the family for some time. On
Thursday of last week Muling was first
missed by his father, who lived near by,
and, after thorough search, his body
was discovered buried in stable, under
the manure, the head crushed in with
three blows of an ak, and the throat cut.
His wife and hired man, when brought
before the corpse, showed little emotion,
declared their innocence of the crime,
and said they had been told by Muling
that he was going to make trip down
the river, and so had not wondered at
his absence. There was no evidence to
positively connect them with the murder,
and the children at first protested that
they knew nothing about it. The Oldest
boy, however, after being taken to
neighbor's and petted till his confidence
had been gained, finally admitted that
his first statement was not true, and that
he had seen Williams knock his father
down with an ak, and then his mother
helped to carry the body out and bury
it. The man and woman were at once
arrested, but hardly had they been lodg-
ed in Jail before there was talk of ad-
ministering summary punishment By
night-fall, Saturday, the threats of lynch
ing had grown so bold that Methodist
minister by the name of Young, went to
the Jail, told the murderers he feared
they would be hung by the mob before
morning, begged that they would allow
him to pray for them, and implored
them to confess and repent. But it was
of no avail the woman simply protest
ed her innocence, while the man ridi-
culed him.


Meanwhile there had been ominous
sounds of the gathering of men outside,
and the minister had hardly given over
his hopeless mission before voice cried
out from the darkness, Shall Edmund
Williams die in thirty minutes (" fol-
lowed by laundering "aye," while on
| ly faint "no" followed the inquiry,
Does any one object ?" Again the
voice cried out. "Shall Mrs Muiing die
in thirty minutes and again came the
| loud AYE from a hundred voices,
mingled this time with few "noes,"
though only enough to show their weak
ness Thoroughly terrified at last, the
guilty pair now shrieked for Mr.. Young,
and, upon his returning to Williams
cell, the latter said that, if he were TAX
en- into Mrs. Muling's cell, he would
confess all it was done, and he kept
his promise. Then the minister and the
murderers knelt, while he tried to pray
for the wretches. But his voice was
drowned by the mob outside, whose fury
had grown so terrible that their leader,
appalled, at the storm he had aroused
resigned his post and insisted that anoth-
er man should be made captain. The
minister, leaving the prisoners, made one
last desperate attempt to save them, and
for full hour held the mob at bay
while he alternately reasoned, pleaded
and prayed that they would allow the
law to take its course


But he might as well have reasoned
with a hurricane, and at last the lynch
ers refused to hear him longer, pushed
him aside and dragged Williams from
his cell, around in front of the court
house, where stand two small locust trees.
He was placed upon barrel beneath
one of them, rope put about his neck
and the end thrown over a limb, and then
he was asked if he had anything to say.
He repeated at more length the story he
had told the minister-how there had
been criminal relations between him and
Mrs. Muling for three years, how for
several months they had been trying to
kill her husband, how she had three
times administered poison, but without
effect, how, at last, despairing of success
in any other way, he had on the previous
Sunday night struck Williams with an
ak as he lay asleep, and twice repeated
the blow, after which he cut his throat,
how Mrs. Muling then helped carry the
body out and bury it, and how the little
children had been witnesses to the whole
tragedy all told with horrible mi
nuteness of detail that showed how he
clung to life when he could only prolong
it by reciting the awful story.


At last his confession was over, and
the mob cried again for his blood. But
once more the indomitable minister ap-
peared to offer another prayer for the
wretched man, which he did of great
length. Then Williams sought a few
minutes more of life by begging for
further opportunity TO confess, which be-