On September 15, 1897, The New York Times reported:
FIVE LYNCHED IN INDIANA; Wholesale Killing by a Mob of Men Suspected of Numerous Robberies. TAKEN FROM JAIL AT NIGHT Four Hundred Men Ride into Versailles, Overpower the Sheriff's Deputies, and Wreak Vengeance on a Party of Prisoners.
OSGOOD, Ind., Sept. 15. -- Incensed by numerous depredations, repeated burglaries, and daylight robberies, the people of Ripley County. Indiana, last night lynched five men who had long been a terror to the citizens of the county. When the citizens of Versailles, the county seat, arose this morning they found the bodies of the five men dangling from as many limbs of an elm tree in the center of the public square. -- reported by The New York Times on September 15, 1897.Believe it or not, while the headline in The New York Times was slightly misleading, this story was reported across our nation. But what's the full story of what happened?
Well, The San Joes Herald reported the following:
WHOLESALE LYNCHING
Four Burglars Hanged in Indiana.
People Determined to Make an Example of Them.
Citizens of Versailles Declare That No Troops Are Wanted. — Over Two Hundred in the Mob. — The Lynchers Are Not Known. — Trouble May Follow.
Versailles, Ind., Sept. 15. — Four hundred infuriated men last night lynched Lyle Levi, Bert Andrews, Clifford Gordon, William Jenkins, and Hiney Shuler, arrested for burglary.
Ripley County for a long time has been terrorized by a gang of bold robbers and burglars.
Versailles is the county seat and when the citizens arose this morning they found five corpses dangling by the necks from an elm tree in the center of the public square. Their feet were but a few inches from the ground and their hands and feet tied by stout ropes.
For four years the people of the county have been subjected to outrage and robbery. Farmers were held up, beaten, and robbed, women tortured to make them tell where money was concealed, being compelled to stand on a red hot stove. Many arrests have been made but the guilty parties always managed to escape conviction.
Last week robberies were frequent and on Saturday the Sheriff was informed that an attempt was to be made to rob a store at Correct, Indiana, a mere ten miles away.
Last week robberies were frequent and on Saturday the Sheriff was informed that an attempt was to be made to rob a store at Correct, Indiana, a mere ten miles away.
Securing five deputies Sheriff Bushing went to the place, concealed himself and his posse in a cellar, and waited for the burglars. They came at midnight.
Clifford Gordon entered first and as soon as he did the Sheriff grabbed him. Both drew pistols at the same time and opened fire. The robbers and the deputies followed suit and thirty shots were fired.
The Sheriff was shot in the hand and in the body four times. The robbers escaped but were subsequently arrested and taken to the Versailles Jail. Others of the gang were arrested later and the citizens soon gathered -- determined to make an example of them.
Shortly before 2 o’clock this morning a crowd assembled quietly and compelled the Jailor to deliver the keys and open the Jail. The mob filed in and took Henry Schiller aged 24, Lyle Levi 67, Clifford Gordon 32, Bert Audsome 30, and William Jenkins 27.
Three of them showed fight. Levi was shot through the breast and the skulls of Jenkins and Schiller wore crushed with a stool. A rope was put over the neck of each of the five and after their hands and feet were pinioned -- all were dragged 200 feet to an elm tree from which they were suspended.
The hanging of two or three more of the gang is already talked of and the citizens say that no troops are wanted. None of the lynchers are known.
First, there is a question about whether or not Ripley County Sheriff Henry Bushing was killed. Well, from what I've been able to determine, though the newspaper stated that he "was shot in the hand and in the body four times," it appears he survived the shooting.
As for 67-year-old Lyle Levi who was the first to be shot and hanged, it appears he was a member of a group of counterfeiters and highwaymen known as the Rittenhouse Gang in Southern Indiana. It also appears he "surrounded himself with desperate young men who terrorized the community." Levi became linked to the gang when it was learned that Levi's wagon was used by his gang when they robbed the store -- the place where the shootout took place.
Also, in a short opinion piece posted on September 25, 1897, in The Atlanta Journal, the Editor of that paper wrote the following:
In the state of Indiana last night a mob lynched five men charged with burglary. This beats anything the South has ever done. Men are not lynched down here for burglary and they are not hung five at a time. It shows that mob law is not sectional. The spirit of lawlessness is likely to break out anywhere, and no state or section can afford to lecture another upon it.
I guess the Editor of The Atlanta Journal missed the report about how the five "burglars" were in fact more "terrorists" than mere burglars. He may have missed reading about how that gang held up, beat, and robbed farmers, and tortured elderly women to make them tell where money was concealed -- like making women stand on a red hot stove to get them to say where their family's savings were kept.
Maybe, just maybe, the Editor of The Atlanta Journal didn't read about that or about how members of that gang shot up the Sheriff of Ripley County, Indiana, and his posse. Maybe if that Editor had learned more of the facts, then just maybe, he would have understood why the citizens of the town of Versailles, Indiana, were angry over how even after arrests were made -- the guilty parties were always acquitted and let go to rob and terrorize again. Maybe the Editor should have researched why citizens, because no convicted ever followed the arrests, became fed up and decided to do away with such criminals themselves.
After all, he did write a personal letter to Ripley County Sheriff Henry Bushing ordering him to "proceed immediately with all the power you can command to bring to justice all the parties 'guilty of participation in the murder' of the five men alleged to have been lynched." The governor closed his letter by saying, "Such lawlessness is intolerable."
In the case of that criminal gang in 1897, we know that those criminals were arrested time and time again but never convicted. We also know that those citizens took action for their own protection. The 400 or so citizens who took action in order to remedy the situation became the very people who worried Governor Mount at the time. The reason is that politicians become frightened when citizens act to remedy a broken justice system.
While thankfully, the identities of those responsible for lynching those brutal criminals were never discovered, I find it very interesting that Governor Mount didn't see the actions of the criminals involved in that campaign of terror in the same light that he saw those who lynched those terrorists. Maybe he should have said about those criminals, "Such lawlessness is intolerable. Their crimes must be stopped." But of course, he didn't. He only became concerned when citizens decided to stop the crime spree.
And really, why is that? Why was Governor Mount so concerned about apprehending the citizens who stopped the criminals who were known to be terrorizing that part of Indiana at the time? Why didn't he see the horrendous acts of those criminals in the same way that he saw those who stopped them?
My thought is this, just as we see taking place today, some politicians see citizens getting involved as being a threat -- worse or as bad as that of what criminals do. They scream that the public has an obligation and absolute need to uphold the rule of law while criminals refuse to observe any laws.
In today's society, citizens who take decisive action against criminals are the very people who worry some politicians the most. Even though we see so many murders, assaults, and blatant robberies taking place these days, all happening while law enforcement is being defunded and demoralized, and while criminals are not being charged and simply being set free to act out and commit more crimes, citizens taking action is something that some politicians don't want to see happen.
In fact, we have politicians who believe that citizens who defend themselves are themselves criminals -- even though those citizens have defended themselves against criminals who have absolutely no regard for the law. And sadly, we have politicians who refuse to acknowledge the untapped asset of an available armed citizenry. An armed citizenry can make a difference by taking part in protecting our communities, including backing up our law enforcement when needed.
And really, while I believe armed citizens are a threat to criminals, it's sad to think that there are some politicians who believe armed citizens are a threat to them as well. Instead, I'd love to see a politician who would say, "Lawlessness is intolerable. Crime must stop. And frankly, armed citizens can help solve the problem."
But no, I won't hold my breath waiting for that to happen.
Tom Correa
When I read the article about the lynching in Versailles, Indiana, on September 15, 1897, I thought, "This needs to be made into a movie". I mean, come on, how can you NOT make a film about this? I plan on making a film about it myself called, "Hoosier Blood". The story will take place in Versailles, Indiana, in 1917, 20 years after the hangings and deal with the people who were involved. Elmo Levi, a resident of the area, tells the story of how his grandfather, Lyle Levi, was falsely accused of a crime he didn't commit. The trailer will open up like this. "Twenty years ago, our town had a lynching. The biggest one yet. I wish I could say the nightmare was over. But that's further from the truth. I still struggle. WE still struggle. I know one thing. You'll need plenty of water to wash away the Hoosier Blood". I have a little song here I would like to write about the crime called, "The Battle Of Versailles". It goes a little something like this. In 1897 some men they were accused/In Versailles, Indiana their lives they had to lose/Did I just hear one crying, "I don't wanna die?/Guess that's what they'll tell you bout a town they call Versailles./All the people gathered with torches, guns, and ropes/To take away the doubts and fears, suspicions and high hopes/These men that they were after included Old Man Levi/You and I know he didn't do it, But not the people of Versailles./Now just who in Hell can you trust when the city has a flood?/And since when do we give in to this thing called Hoosier blood?/The mistakes that oh so cruel were made were not made by you and I/But the people in that city that we all call Versailles.?/So the next time that they ask you who really was to blame/You can tell them bout the victims/But you don't need age or name/All that you can tell them is how they sadly died/For there's no peaceful treaty in this version of Versailles/No, there's no peaceful treaty in this version of Versailles. From your friend, Benny Bence, thank you.
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