Sixty Armed Men Took the Jail at Dayton

DAYTON, W.T., Aug. 5. — For several days rumors had been rife of the probable lynching of J. F. McPherson if he secured a stay of proceedings from the court, but as there was so much talk we were inclined to think it was all talk. It was noticed yesterday, however, that a great many people were on our streets who seemed to be engaged in earnest conversation wherever a squad would congregate. In the evening the streets were alive with people, but very little was said in regard to the murderers.

At about 10 o'clock a body of armed men, numbering about sixty persons, took possession of the public square and placed guards around the jail and throughout the square to keep out others from interfering. A portion of the crowd then demanded admittance into the jail yard, and upon refusal of the jailor to open the door a crowbar was procured and the door pried open. The jail guard began shooting; the fire was returned by the mob, who then grabbed the guard and held them until the work was done. George E. Church, who was acting as death watch, locked the jail door at the first alarm and threw the key under the steps. When the mob entered the jail they said to the guard: "We are not here to violate the law, but to fulfil it; make no appeal."

The cell was broken into and McPherson brought out and placed upon the scaffold, the shackles still upon him. As he mounted he spoke a few words to the crowd, then offered up a prayer; as soon as he was through he was cut off. The rope was either too long or else it slipped: the man struck the side of the scaffold as he fell, and his feet reached the ground. Strong hands grasped the rope and his ponderous body swung clear between the heavens and the earth, and he was literally strangled to death. By this time the yard was full of people, all eager to see the execution, but the vigilantes kept them out of the yard until the signs of life were extinct. The body was then given to the jail guard and the coroner summoned.

A jury was impanelled, which rendered the following verdict: "We, the undersigned coroner's jury, summoned to inquire into the cause and circumstances attending the death of James F. McPherson, do find that the said James F. McPherson came to his death by hanging and strangulation, the person or persons causing his death being unknown." — I. N. Arment, T. S. Leonard, G. A. Cameron, Louis Young, Joseph W. Smith and N. M. Wait.

The body was then taken to the undertaking establishment of Kimball & Martin and placed in a coffin. His neck was found not to be broken. The remains, accompanied by the widow and children, were taken to Pomeroy for interment.

The mob, unlike most mobs, did their work coolly and systematically, only hanging the one who was likely to escape the punishment of his great crime, leaving the others to be dealt with as the law directed. We do not believe in lynch law, and think that it should be discouraged, but this uprising was general throughout the country; horsemen were heard to leave town in every direction until long after the execution was over, the sound of their horses' hoofs reminding one of a regular night march of cavalry. Thus is another chapter in the great tragedy. — Dayton Chronicle extra, Sunday, Aug. 5.