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Inscription Is Epitaph For 2 Bloody Crimes;* - ? *By JACK HOUSTONfmmC* June 1. 1888 ”The significance of that simple inscription on a small concrete slab in the Courthouse Park at Viroqua, under the very shpdow of the Tribunal of Justice, is lost on the casual observer It represents the final epitaph of two bloody crimes C)n the warm, still night of May 24, 1888, a farm neighbor of the Reuben Drake family living in Sugar Grove heard shots from the directon of the Drake home Darkness had fallen and the neighbor wondered why Drake would be shooting at that late hour It bothered him and he investigated the following morningWhen there was no response to his knock on the Drakes' open kitchen door he entered, and found Drake in a pool of bhxd, dead from two bullet wounds Mrs Drake was slumped in a bedroom doorway, a bullet hole in her head and another in her chest In the bedroom, the neighbor could see the Drakes grandson and granddaughter on a blood-stained bed, their throats cut from ear to ear Nauseated by the sight, the neighbor rushed home and dispatched his hired man to notify the sheriff Sheriff Gosling immediately sent a wire to Drake’s son. the father of the children, who was living in Chicago. With a deputy, he then proceeded to the Drake home.Word of the murder quickly spread through the area First the news created shocked surprise, then apprehension which turned to dark mutterings Every one liked the elderlv Drakes Like a smoldering fire, hate was building up, and would flare into action when a suspect was found Mob violence was being born in the hills When no clues were found by the sheriff, young Drake wired the PinkertonDetective Agency in Chicago to send its best man On the following Tuesday morning, detective J T Farrell, accompanied by an ex-sheriff. E J Godell. left Viroqua for the murder scene In Reads-town they were joined by C.E Morley and F H Rogers, local investigator^The four men went over the Drake house inch by inch Late in the day. as they were finishing a search of the yards and outbuildings, a messenger arrived from Viola with information that gave them a lead to a man named Andrew Grandstaff.A young man with whom Grandstaff had worked during the winter in Kicka-poo Center, claimed Grandstaff had proposed to him in March that they murder the Drakes and take the monev Drake was saving to build a new bam The officers drove to the home of Elbert Jennings in the Town of Liberty.where they arrested Grandstaff. 24 a nephew of Jennings Grandstaff was sleeping, but came downstairs and surrendered without resistance Precisely one week to the day. and at the very hour of the murder, officers had made an arrestGrandstaff was taken to Readstown by• wthe officers, where he was held until early morning before a confession was obtainedEverv alibi Grandstaff offered was dis-• ¥credited He then consented to give the full story on condition he would be immediately sentenced and taken to prison To this the officers agreedIn the early morning hours the party-left Readstown for the countv seat.W ■reaching Viroqua about Tam Grandstaff was placed in a room at the Park Hotel, handcuffed and guarded His confession was repeated and recorded in writing by Dist Atty Field, acknowledged before Justice McMichael.and signed by Morley and five other witnesses.Officers in Viroqua. anticipating trouble. were planning to take their prisoner to La Crosse the next day for safe keeping In the meantime. Grandstaff was placed on the second floor of the county jail, in a room made of 3 8-inch boiler plate The door and window were covered bv iron bars.-Long before the supper hour, the town began filling with gnm-faced men There were gatherings on the street comers — low-voiced conversations Rumors spread that there would be a lynching before the night was overWhile the officers were uneasv. thev¥ ¥felt that the jail, with added guards, was secureAbout 9pm the streets were mysteriously deserted But the men were meet-wmg elsewhere They- formed an organization appointed a leader and procured tools for opening the jail.In a solid bodv of nearly 300 thev-7^™ ... ^ ¥ _ ■ . T*marched to the jail, where they demanded the prisoner In vain, officials tried to reason with the mob.The guards were overpowered Entrance to the jail was gained by splintering the outer, wooden door with a battering ram The inner guards were overpowered and nearly trampled by the furious men The big lock on the cell was smashed with a sledge hammerCrouched in one corner of his iron quarters, and armed with a bedrail from his cot. Grandstaff held the mob at baym rfor nearly an hour The fight was intense and bloodv Grandstaff became exhaust-ed from exertion and loss of blood He was seized, his hands were tied and a rope was put around his neckThe only thing the mob would listen to was that Grandstaff should be given a chance to make public confession of the murder Gr mdstaff insisted he was innocent He cbnued he had made no confession to anyoneOther one lions put to him were not answered to the lvnch mob’s satisfaction Shouted calls were made for anyone knowing of a written confession to step forward There was no answer The officers kept their silenceShouts of Come on. let’s hang him’’ went up Grandstaff. still covered with blood, was dragged to a hickory tree in the Courthouse yard and the rope was thrown over a limb He was pulled off the ground, then loweredDid you cut the throats of the child-ren’ someone shoutedI didn't know they were there, Grandstaff croakedImpatient hands pulled him up again, then lowered him Again he was asked to confess, but stubbornlv shook his head«rThe third time he was hanged.Eleven minutes Ir.tdr a physician felt Grandstaff’s wrist for a pulse, then pronounced him deadV b 9 ,'•*.» A*\ , „ ,* w^ * 4* tfclp’W %0**%r*, . • » . IF.*\ v,* /v I* I* - V# .Trm ■V*W-m2■i• f* Vi* -Lwi«**-... 4fk, •t' 'S'f* 0WMarker shows date of Viroqua lynching Andrew Grandstaff was hanged in Courthouse yard
Newspaper Details
La Crosse Sunday Tribune
La Crosse, Wisconsin, US
Sun, Oct 10, 1976
Page 13
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 21 Jul 2020
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