Vigilante Threats Against Dixie Pastor
A clergyman in Dixie, Washington, finds himself the target of an anonymous warning scrawled on an effigy.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The citizens of Dixie are much worked up over the fact that Rev. W. R. Eakin, of that city, was found in effigy last Friday night. This time a placard was attached to the effigy, bearing the inscription, 'Rev. Eakin, we will notify you for the last time. We will give you ten days to leave town.' No clue has been obtained to the perpetrators.
“Rev. Eakin, we will notify you for the last time. We will give you ten days to leave town.”
Targeting local clergy with threats of expulsion was a common, brutal way for small-town vigilante groups to enforce conformity in the late 19th century. Such tactics, intended to silence dissent or perceived moral 'deviance,' remain a dark chapter in the history of localized intimidation.
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