THE WORK OF THE WAPELLO VIGILANCE COMMITTEE

pg 409

Early in 1859 tne people of Louisa county, and especially those in the vicinity of Wapello, became considerably worked up over repeated thefts of horses and cattle. It is noted in the Wapello Intelligencer that about May 1st, A. D. Hur- ...

pg 410

... ley had a horse stolen from him, and that J. L. King had a horse stolen from the stable of Levi Chase. As a result of these and many former thefts the Intelligencer of May 14th called for the organization of a vigilance committee and such a committee was organized some time during the month of May. One of the most active men concerned in the organization of this committee was A. D. Hurley, who, for a time at least, was secretary of the committee, for we find in the Wapello Republican of July 4, 1861, the following notice:

"There will be a meeting of the Louisa county thief detective vigilance committee, July 6, 1861, at the court house in Wapello, at 7:30 o'clock p. m., for the election of officers and the transaction of important business. It is the duty of every member to attend all regular meetings when notified, and hold himself in readiness when called upon, to discharge any duty resting upon him as a member, and to communicate to the president all information that may be of advantage in bringing offenders to justice.
               ”A. D. Hurley, Sec.”

Other active members of this committee were: Dr. H. T. Cleaver, Sheriff A. M. Taylor, Vinton Massie, John M. Herrick and D. W. Herrick, John F. Saunders, James Semple, S. B. Cleaver, and others whose names we cannot give. We take the following extract from a biographical sketch of John F. Saunders, which was published in the Wapello Tribune of March 24, 1905, and relates to this larceny matter:

"It was in the year 1859, and at a time when Louisa county was practically in her virgin state, scores of square miles of her territory was prairie land and vast herds of cattle roamed at will. The cattle were branded in the spring and turned loose and allowed to roam and feed upon the grass until autumn, when they were identified by the owners, taken up and sold. These herds of cattle were great temptations to lawless bands of thieves, who, many times singling out the best of the herd, drove them to Burlington or to the nearest marketing place and sold them. Sheriff Taylor was in office at the time of which we write, and under him our sketch was acting in the capacity of deputy. Sheriff Taylor conceived the plan of catching the outlaws. A man by the name of Rhodes was then in the penitentiary at Fort Madison serving out a sentence of several years, and Taylor, who had some acquaintance with the man, visited the prison and laid his plans before him. It was to the effect that he should obtain the pardon of Rhodes, who was to get in touch of the outlaws, if possible, gain their confidence, acquaint himself with their plans, reveal the same to Taylor and help in their capture. This Rhodes consented to undertake, and after regaining his liberty, carried out his plan to its ultimate success. He learned that on a certain evening a band were to deliver to a shipper at a point near where Elrick Junction now stands a herd of ten well fatted cattle, who was to pay for the same and say nothing. Taylor decided to intercept this plan if possible and capture the thieves. So taking with him his trusted deputies, Mr. Saunders, Gustavus Jones, David and Henry Herrick and Vinton Massie, they laid in wait for the thieves at what was then called Horseshoe Bend, a point about one hundred yards below the residence of Israel Peters, on the Burlington road south of Wapello, and where Rhodes had learned the thieves would pass with their stolen property.

pg 411

About midnight the thieves were sighted and the sheriff and his men, waiting until they were close by, arose from both sides of the road and demanded their immediate surrender. The thieves replied by opening fire and a number of shots were exchanged, two of the horses belonging to the thieves were killed, and they, fearing death stared them in the face, gave themselves up, after J. G., one of their number, had received a severe wound in his right thigh."

The foregoing article was written at the time Mr. Saunders was about eighty years old, and for some reason, due either to the failure of his memory, or the failure of the reporter to correctly understand him, no mention is made of the connection of A. D. Hurley with this case. The fact is, however, as we understand it, that Mr. Hurley went to Fort Madison to interview the man Rhodes and afterward went to the governor in person and secured the necessary pardon. It is doubtless true that Sheriff Taylor went to Fort Madison to interview Rhodes, and perhaps also to take the pardon down to him. Great credit is of course due Sheriff Taylor and his deputy, Mr. Saunders, and doubtless to others whose names have not been mentioned, but it is proper that due credit should be given Mr. Hurley for the active interest he took in this affair from its beginning to its close.

We take the account of the capture of the men from the Wapello Intelligencer of October 1st, 1859:

"It has been no less a notorious fact, than a continued source of annoyance and loss to the citizens of Louisa county for some time past, that we have had among us a gang of men who have been drawing upon us at sundry times, and in divers ways for different kinds of goods and chattels, in that unwarrantable way familiarly known as stealing; and to such an extent had their different depredations been practiced upon our citizens that it became necessary for the preservation of horses, cattle, etc., that a vigilance committee be formed, which was organized some time last spring, and of which until lately, there has been but little known. It would seem, however, that they have been at work, and to what effect will be seen to some extent in the result of their labor of last Tuesday evening.

"It seems that by some means unknown to the 'uninitiated' that a part of the committee received information that cattle were being driven from the different neighborhoods throughout the county, at different times, and herded in a clandestine manner until proper opportunities offered for driving them entirely out of the reach of their owners, on which information the committee put themselves upon the alert to detect them in the act, in which they succeeded last Tuesday evening in arresting the following persons, citizens of this place: Mr. E., Mr. C., and Mr. G.; not, however, without some little skirmishing, in which two horses belonging to Mr. E. (one ridden by himself, the other by G.) were shot down, one of which has since died. Mr. G. was also wounded in the fleshy part of the thigh, but not considered dangerous. The parties were then brought to town, placed under guard, and the cattle (eight head) were driven to a lot and secured and were afterward recognized as belonging to Josiah Nicol, living some seven miles southwest of town. The parties were placed on trial yesterday before Justice Jacob Mintun, from before whom a change was taken to Justice Fisher, which, with other preliminaries, has occupied the time up to the present.

pg 412

"The examinations have just closed by which E. is held in bonds of $1,500; C. and G. in $1,000 each; and all are still in custody for want of compliance with the requirements of the court. Further developments are being made by legal search about their respective habitations, the particulars of which will be given next week as our hurry to go to press prevents anything further in this issue."

Neither the account given by Mr. Saunders nor the account in the Intelligencer gives the date of the capture of these men, but this can be determined quite accurately from a little bill filed by Mrs. G. against the county. The bill was filed March 27, 1860, and is as follows: "To boarding bailiff twenty-three days, from the 27th of September, 1859, to October term of district court, in guarding G., a prisoner, keeping up fires, lights, etc., during that time, $23."

This would make the date September 27, or within a day or two of that, and would indicate that G. was kept there until court was held. The district court records show that J. G. plead guilty on October 27, 1859, to an indictment for larceny and was sentenced to the penitentiary for three years. The cases against E. and C. were transferred to Henry county and tried there. Joshua Tracy, the district attorney, represented the state, and Henry O'Connor, D. N. Sprague and B. F. Wright represented the defendants. The witnesses in these cases so far as we have found their names were: Josiah Nicol, A. D. Hurley, A. C. Scull, Bentley Cleaver, James Semple, John Saunders, James Humphrey, Edward Pile, Milley Gregory, William R. Williams, D. W. Herrick, Vinton Massie, H. T. Cleaver, E. B. Ogg, Isaac Mickey, E. L. Crain, G. A. Craiger, Thomas Stoddard, Gust Jones, William Teets, J. C. Case, William Russell and W. W. Stutts. The trials at Mount Pleasant resulted in the conviction of both.

We find on the files in the auditor's office the following bill presented against the county by J. Stone. It is evident from the spelling indulged in by Mr. Stone, which we give literally from his bill, that if he was not one of the 'originators of the plan of simplified spelling, he at least had original ideas on the subject:

"A Cont with Louisa County Dr. to worke Dr. one nite and part of day with houts	$1.50
to one nites Loging for prisoner	. 65
and garding the Same one nitte	1.00
2 nits and days with E	4.00
Dr. one nite a lone with E	1.00
Comenced garding Carpenter Oct 21 a mount of nites and gard 9 nits and 8 days
3 days Balef for	17.00
Grand jourey	3.00
Dr. to 1 day with John Salys	1.00"

At the bottom of this bill is the following certificate in the handwriting of A. M. Taylor:

"I hereby certify that the above services were performed to the best of my belief and knowledge.
                “A. M. Taylor
               Shff. L. C. Iowa”

The valuable service performed by the Wapello vigilance committee was recognized by the county court, by the payment on June 5, T86O. to John M. Herrick, ...

pg 412

... treasurer of the Wapello vigilance committee, of $200, to repay money expended by the committee in the detection of criminals.

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