Jasper County Democrat, Volume 12, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 April 1909 — FOUR LYNCHED FOR MURDER OF MARSHAL [ARTICLE]

FOUR LYNCHED FOR MURDER OF MARSHAL

Oklahomans Ignore Reqoest to Let Law Take its Course. Ada, Okla., April 20.—Two hundred citizens of Ada, practically all of them of the better class, took the law into their own hands and hanged four men for the murder of Deputy United States Marshal A. L. Bobbitt. -r? The lynched victims are: J. B. Miller, Fort Worth, Tex., cattleman; B. B. Burrell, Duncan, Okla,, ranch owner; Jesse West, Canadian, Tex., ranch owner; Joe Allen, Canadian, Tex., ranch owner. Early in the morning the town's electric lights were suddenly shut off. Telephone wires were cut. There was no noise. Soon a few stragglers began to appear near the jail building. “Good morning, neighbor.” was the greeting. A big man in a slouch hat soon appeared. “Glad to see you boys,” he said. “Are you all ready?” A suppressed cry was the only answer. The men silently made their way toward the jail. They had scarcely gone a block when County Attorney Robert Wimbish, who had received word that the mob was forming, met them. The crowd came to a stop at his request. Attorney Wimbish said: "Men of Ada, you are disgracing this community in the eyes of the world. Think this matter over calmly and let the law take its course.” The mob listened attentively, then proceeded on its way. Just before the rope was placed about his neck, Miller calmly removed a diamond from his shirt front, and requested that it be sent to his wife in Fort Worth. The mob spared OsctA- Peeler, a seventeen year old boy, who was implicated iiythe murder, but who had turned state's evidence. The boy stated killed Bobbitt. Jesse West aid Mi ; lcr to commit the murder. AdjuV-rt General Canton said that to his personal knowledge J. B. Miller had killed thirteen men in Texas.