Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 1.djvu/502



“Many of the people of Scott, Cedar, Clinton, Jones and Jackson counties had become convinced that no horse thieves could be convicted in the courts, and from four to five hundred of the most respectable men of these counties assembled at the various meetings to devise measures to rid the country of these law breakers. I presided at most of these meetings, including the one at Warren’s. When the jury found Warren guilty, the question arose, ‘What shall be done with him?’ Many motions were made and voted down, when someone moved that he be hung. When the vote on this motion was to be taken, I requested all who were in favor of hanging to walk over to the east side of the road, and all opposed to hanging should go to the west side. Only a few went on the west side. I was astonished and did not endorse the decision. I got upon a wagon and began to tell my reasons for opposing their vote as best I could for about ten minutes, and was making many changes of votes when a man came to me and said, ‘Randall, if you don’t stop that you will be shot inside of five minutes.’ I replied, ‘One murder is enough,’ and ran out of sight. I am not ashamed of anything I did that day, so you may use my name.”

Edward Soper was a young man living three miles southeast of Tipton, and Alonzo Gleason was staying at various places in that vicinity, having no regular occupation. In the spring of 1857 these two young men, in company with three other bad characters, stole a valuable horse belonging to Charles Pennygrot, who lived two miles from Lowden. With this horse and another they had stolen from near Solon, they started for Illinois to dispose of the property. By traveling nights and avoiding the public roads, they escaped without detection, crossing the Mississippi and going on to the Illinois River. Here they sold the horses and after some weeks returned to Cedar County to resume their stealing. But the citizens became aroused and caused their arrest by the sheriff. They were taken to the old court-house at Tipton on the 2d of July, confined in a room on the ground floor, guarded by twenty men selected by the sheriff, John Byerly. About midnight a large body of Regulators overpowered the guard, seized the prisoners and conveyed them to a grove on the farm of Martin Henry, south of Lowden. The Regulators came from all directions, generally armed, until more than two hundred had gathered. They