Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/389

 HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

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��enormit}^ of his crime. He would alternately sing, pray, swear, and use the most obscene language ; was always ready to laugh, talk, joke, and seemed to be under an impression he had created an immense sensation, and was the hero of the hour. He was a great gormandizer and grew fat, while waiting to be hanged ; seemed on the whole to be much more of a beast than a human being. The da}' of execution was Friday, May 31, 1878. A great crowd appeared at the place of execution, in the old jail-yard, on Third street. The execution was to be pri- vate, and a high broad fence inclosed the scaf- fold. As the time for the execution approached, the crowd grew boisterous, and developed into a mob, determined to " see the nigger hung." The compan}^ of militia, on duty as guard, was brushed aside with little ceremony, and the in- closure about the scaffold demolished in a few moments. A characteristic smile played about mouth of the murderer, as he walked toward the scaffold, and knew that all this fuss was made on his account. He seemed, to the last, to have no comprehension of his awful doom, and was swung into eternit}^, without seeming to realize, know or care, what issues are in- volved in life and death.

In April, 1878, the people of Independence were thrown into a state of excitement by a murder in their midst. A man named Samuel P. Bowersox kept a saloon in the place, to the great annoyance of the Independence people, who are generally strongly inclined to temper- ance. Bowersox was consequently consider- ably annoyed one way and another in his business. One night, a party of young men visited the saloon, and, after drinking more than they should, went out and created some disturbance on the street near the saloon, by hallooing, throwing stones, etc., which so en- raged Bowersox that he took down a revolver, and, opening the door, thrust his hand out and fired into the crowd, instantly killing Alfred Palm. He was brought to Mansfield, tried, a

��nolle prosequi entered in the case, and he was acquitted on that ground.

Soon after the war, Mansfield was infested with thieves, blacklegs and confidence men. For- a 3'ear or two, their presence was borne with patience, in the hope the law and law officers would deal with them as the}- de- served. These men came to be well known to the officers of the law and citizens genei'all}-, but'^such was the dexterity they exhibited in their calling, they could not be caught, or if caught, no crime could be proven against them. Their outrages were committed almost nightly. Private houses and stores were burglarized ; citizens were knocked down on the street and robbed, sometimes in broad daylight. It be- came dangerous to walk the streets alone after dark ; and even in daylight, especially in the vicinity of the railroad depots, men were not safe from robbery and outrage. So great had this insecurity become by 1867, that, finding the law could not reach these miscreants, the citizens determined to take the matter in their own hands. A company of regulators was formed, and, in March of that 3'ear, the follow- ing proclamation appeared :

To thieve!^, blacklegs, corifidence men, etc.: Our city has been infested by, and our citizens suffered as long as they will bear, your depredations on person and property. You are all known to our Regulators. We therefore warn you to leave our city instantly and for- ever, for we will not tolerate you longer. You are watched and cannot escape. A short shift will be your doom if caught at your wicked business hereafter.

Before issuing the above, the citizens met and passed the following :

Resolved, That the city is in need only of honest men. Swindlers and confidence men are notified to leave or suffer the consequences. Our Regulators are authorized to enforce this resolution. All persons are warned against harboring or assisting these pests of society. We are determined to rid the community of them, and any person standing in the way will do so at their peril.

A squad of Regulators searched the saloons and arrested six or eio;ht men who were well

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