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Subject: [ILWABASH] hangings
Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 20:19:16 -0500

I am in possession of a news article written about March 1914 by my grandfather, Louis Zuber. The article is quite torn, but putting the pieces together-- my granfather writes of the hanging of a Jones person presumably in the early 1850's at Mt. Carmel. Part of this (as I can interpret from the torn article) is this:
The hanging of a youg Virginian named Jones (I do not recall his first name) at Mt. Carmel in the early 50's is a topic that I have never seen a thing written about in any local papers. Thinking it might be ...... to our people I will give as....... can a true narrative of that ev...... crime for which he paid the penalty.....
From reading the article-- it seems that Jones murdured his employer, John H. Miller, on a trip where Mr. Miller was buying goods for his store in Mt. Carmel. Millers body was found by a young boy turkey hunting. Jones was captured, tried at Mt. Carmel, and sentenced to hang. A scaffold was erected below the bluff of the Wabash-- spectators from far and near lines the bluff as in an ampitheater and everybody had a view of it. The article gives in vivid detail what the minister said, and tells about the black cap going over Jones's face and the trap being sprung. Jones was buried in the potters field.
There was a piece of paper written by my grandfather that was with the article stating:The writer's mother was present at the Jones execution; his aunt was present at the execution of the woman in Lawrence CO. some time before and his father and brother saw Behme executed.
My grandfather's mother was Hannah Goodart Anthis Zuber (1835-1902); his aunt was most likely a sister to Hannah-- Anna Regina Goodart Viehman or Mary Ann Goodart Hawf (the Zubers were not in the US until the early/mid 1850's and they settled in Indiana until the mid 1870's-- then they moved to Wabash Co., IL), my grandfather's father was Jacob Zuber (spouse of Christina Bangert and Hannah Goodart Anthis). I don't know which of the Zuber siblings would have seen the Behme hanging (1880's). The lady executed (from the internet) was Elizabeth Reed, executed in 1845 in Lawrence Co for poisoning her husband.
Does anyone have any information on this Jones hanging? I can try to write the entire article if anyone is interested, but there will be gaps due to the tears in the news article. Thanks. Helen Zuber Keusch

forever searching in the ZUBER, BANGERT, GUTEKUNST/GOODART, ANTHIS, LAND, CRABTREE, EDWARDS, WOFFORD, GOODWIN, BENNETT, EAKINS, MELTON, FORD/FOARD, SANDEFUR, WALCUP, HANDLEY, EZELL, THOMASON, DUNCAN (my lines) and KEUSCH, ZIMMERMAN, BURGER, HOPF, HOCHGESANG, SCHMITT/SCHMIDT, MEHRINGER, and SCHITTER/SCHUETTER (hubby's lines)

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