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Wednesday, May (9th, 1875.MORE MOB LAW.A MAX IX STORY COUNTY JIRUTA'II.Y '■! MUIJDKRKD JIY A MOW.The State Her/inter of the 11thinst. contained the particulars of the hanging of :i man in Story county by a mob. It was a brutal, fiend ishjand disgraceful affair,that should call, for the sternest possible measures from the authorities. Wo condense the following as giving something of a history of the affair: Early Sunday morning, (May Oth)coroner, Mr. C., P. Ko’ in son, was notified that Mr. George N. Kirkman had been hanged by a mob, at his residence, in Indian township, the night nrovious. The Coroner eni-pannollcd a jury and rojaired to the scene of the tragedy and proceeded to hold an inquest. They found the bodv badly bruised and mangled, and that he had come to his death by hanging at the hands of a mob, only four or live of whom directly participated, but as to whom the guilty parlies arc nothing was developed.George N lvirkman, the deceased was one of the pioneer settlors of Story county, having settled on the* farm on which lie resided at the time he was murdered In 1852, before the county was organized. lie was then a poor man, but by hard knocks and close attention to business lie amassed property to the value of §25,000. lie was reputed to be prompt and strictly honest in all of his dealings. To his friends.who were many, lie was kind-hearted and generous; to his enemies, who were ennparativoiy few, lie was outspoken and bitter.lie had of late years turned his attention somewhat to line stock,and took a great pride in his short horns.The cause Lhat led to the commission of the terrible crime are supposed to have been a trouble that had existed for some years between the deceased and a couple of I is sons-in-law in regard to the sup os-cd intention on Iiis part to disinherit a part of his children, ami the murder was of the most brutal character, the party being draged from his bed in the night, ami hung with a rope, where he was permitted to remain until in miing.murdering him in the utterest .cold blood and ferocity, without phanco of defense—a' cowardice • which shames manhood and mankind, aiul puts a stigma and infamy upon our Stale and our .people, which mot even the prompt arrest, conviction, and punishment of tlio twenty ..mur. dcrcrs can either efface, palliate, or excuse.Only one thing in decency remains* That is, for the State to unite with Story county in ferret-? ting out these Vigilantes, arresting, and punishing them. Gov. Carpenter may be expected to display at once to the last degree of its power the strong arm of the State. As an Executive of a State in which mob law and mob murder have risen so defiantly and so alarmingly, lie has a plain duty to perform which he is not the man to shirk.Jol.n 11 \ If Mi er on Mar anil the Chin c’ics,The Koston Globe publishes the following letter of Mr. John G. Whittier, written to his friend, licv. .J. 15. Miles, D. D., general secretary of the association for the reform and codification of the law of nations :Ai.esuury 14, 4th Mouth, ’75. To James JJ. Miles, Secretary, etc.My Dkak Ehirnji :— It is eminently fitting to connect the centennial ’anniversary of the opening natlles of the revolution with the growing sentiment of civilization that there* is “a more excellent way” uf settling the disputes of nations than the ordeal of war. It is cheering to note the very general favor with which the plan of arbitration has been received by statesmen and civilians in this country and in Europe ; but there arc other signs of the times well calculated to occasion solicitude on the part of every lover of peace. The menace of danger now seems to come from the professed church of Christ. At this moment the peace of all Europe is threatened by the secret plots and monstrous public pretensions of oe-clesiastieism. If war comes in consequence, if the fairest harvest fields of the world are made an arena of battle, men who claim to be especially the priests and representatives of the gospel of peace will-bo held responsible. Woe to that church which, for the sake of power and dogma, breaks the truce of God among the nations, makes i:« mis.'ionarie.s assassins, and mingles blood with its wine of sacrament. It. is high lime for the Christian church to awaken to a full sense of its awful responsibility. If, after the dreadful experience of eighteen hundred years, it fails to perceive the necessity of shaking itself eleai
Newspaper Details
Chariton Patriot
Chariton, Iowa, US
Wed, May 19, 1875
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Daniel H.
CT, USA 10 Aug 2017
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