Description
He Sees 3 Hanged. - Kansas Pioneer Isn’t Anxious to Witness Executions - Negro Slave Killed Black Who Whipped Him - WITNESSES DOUBLE HANGING - Outlaws Swung From Tree at Atchison, He Says - Leader of Mob Father of Well Known Farmer.
Leavenworth, Kansas, June 1. — Melvin Bedwell, an old timer of Potter, has seen 3 men hanged and says he never wants to see another execution. While living in Platte County, Missouri, in the early days he saw the hanging of a negro slave, known as “Abe," who was the property of Nathan Newby, a well-known Missouri character.
Newby had another slave named Dan. Dan was foreman over the other slaves belonging to Newby and Newby ordered Dan to whip Abe for some cause. Abe swore that if Dan attempted to whip him he would kill him. Dan struck at him, whereupon Abe carried out his threat by drawing a knife and stabbing Dan to death. Abe was arrested, tried, and sentenced to be hanged.
The execution took place on June 24, 1853, on a white oak tree about 300 hundred yards east of the Hon. R. P. C. Wilson’s residence near Platte City, and was witnessed by a large concourse of people. Mr. Bedwell says that Abe's last words were: "Good people, look, one and all."
Only Legal Hanging.
Abe and Dan were valuable slaves, being worth $1,200 each. The hanging of Abe is said to have been the only judicial one that ever occurred In Platte County. His owner. Nathan Newby, was one of the best known characters in this section of the country in the early days. He was described as a merry companion, much given to practical jokes. He called himself ‘’Fool Nath." He was an untiring talker. At an early day he ran for representative in Platte County and came near being elected. On one occasion, when the government was buying black horses, he painted one that color and sold it at Fort Leavenworth. A few days later he found himself in prison. But he made so merry over the joke that they allowed him to refund the money and take the horse.
One Double Hanging.
In 1863 Mr. Bedwell witnessed the hanging of two men named Brewer and Mooney by a mob in Atchison. These men belonged to a gang of outlaws that had committed depredations throughout this section of the country. They were placed in a wagon at the court house, driven to a spot just south of the present Santa Fe depot in Atchison, and there hanged on an elm tree. Mr. Bedwell says that the mob was led by a well-known man whose son is now a prominent farmer near Potter.Date(s) of Creation
6/12/1912
