A Triple Lynching in Kansas
Three murderers swung from the stringers of a Union
Pacific Bridge —Two
of them were father and son.
At 1 o’clock this
morning there was a terrible exhibition of prairie justice here, and three men
met death at the hands of Judge Lynch. No such outbreak of the old-time, swift,
frontier justice has been witnessed in Kansas
for years. The mob was one of the quietest and most determined that ever came
together. It was a fiercely earnest and wholly heartless mob, also, for the
victims did not get even time to pray before they were dropped into eternity.
The men hanged were J. G. Burton, William Gay and the
latter’s son, John Gay, who had lived together on Burton ’s
farm. The men were confessedly guilty of the murder of “Fred” Dinniny last
July. Dinniny lived with T. W. Burton on a farm eleven miles north of here. On
July 9 he disappeared. Burton had
the dead man’s team and even wore some of his clothes, but said he had gone to Oklahoma
with young Gay. Gay returned a short time ago, and on close questioning,
confessed that Burton had poisoned
Dinniny. The elder Gay attempted to point out the place of burial, but failed. Burton
then made a confession that the Gays killed Dinniny, and on Thursday he took
the Sheriff to a cornfield in a ravine, where the body, decomposed and
mutilated, was found. Indignation ran high, and it was with difficulty the
three men could be taken to the jail.
Last night a number of men living in the vicinity of the Burton
farm came into town and were reinforced by farmers from all parts of the
county. The party appeared to have been picked, for there were only about 130
in all when, at midnight , they
surrounded the little jail and demanded the prisoners. They easily forced their
way into the jail and dragged out the terrified trio from their cells.
The mob was cool and well organized, and made no attempt at
concealment, though there were many on-lookers. They took the men out through
the streets and guarded them with jealous care, leading them along the Union
Pacific track, a short distance from town, where a little prairie stream is crossed
by the railroad and wagon road about 100 rods east of the Russell depot.
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Image from my collection |
To the bridge over this [stream] the mob went and placed the
trembling wretches near the edge. Ropes were ready, and one was put around the
neck of each of the men and tied to the stringers. There was no time given for
prayers or pleadings, but at a signal all three were pushed off the edge and
dropped eight or ten feet with the precision of a regular hanging. To make sure
of carrying out their purpose the mob fired two shots into each body, although
death came quickly by the rope. Then the lynchers rode away quietly, and the
bodies swung cold and stiff.
There is little sympathy for the victims. The murder was a
cruel and heartless one, and the murdered man had many friends. Ever since his
disappearance suspicions have gorwn more pointed, and the three men lynched
this morning were considered guilty. Their mutual recriminations and
cross-confessions convinced the people that all of them were guilty, and during
the last week, and while the inquest over Dinniny’s body was being held, public
attention was given almost exclusively to the matter. The trivial booty
secured, and the evidence of mutilation on the body, robbed the murderers of
all sympathy. It is not likely that any attempt will be made to identify the
lynchers.
*** Justice has always been an elusive concept.