The Counterfeiters in Massac Co. Illinois
A fellow by the name of Stanford Rimmer, belonging to the gang of counterfeiters in Massac county, Illinois, has been making a confession, in which he implicates a large number of persons. They were engaged in making counterfeit gold and silver coins and notes of the Kentucky and Indiana banks. He named, also thirty-two men, all of whom were from Massac county, except three. Among the number were the sheriff, county clerk, three justices of the peace, and four constables, all of whom had their orders to leave the county by the by the(sic) 2d of the present month, and not to reside in the south part of the State. Forty-five others had similar order, and were preparing to leave - Quincy Whig
(December 1, 1846, Prairie Du Chien Patriot, Prairie Du Chien Wisconsin -- Submitted by S. Williams)
PARDONED CRIMINALS
Something Concerning the Exercise of Executive Clemency in Illinois.
A List of Pardons Issued to Prisoners Under Sentence for Manslaughter and Murder.
A.P. Mingea; May 1869, murder; Massac County, 20 years; pardoned May 19, 1875. The papers
in this case are very voluminous. Judge David J. Baker, who sentenced him, writes recommending his pardon.
Elmer Washburn, late Warden, the prosecuting attorneys, and almost the entire community where he resided speak highly of him, and deem his imprisonment sufficient. The convection was almost wholly on circumstantial evidence, and there seems good grounds for executive interference. Mingeas is claimed to be a talented high minded man, and there is reason to believe that he for reasons creditable to the noblest mind, voluntarily assumed the odium of the crime to save others.
[Inter-Ocean Springfield, January 17 1876, submitted by Barb Ziegenmeyer]
JOLIET NEWS.
Special Dispatch to The Tribune
JOILET, ILL., Jan. 26-A convict named Lafayette Williams, who was sentenced from Massac County in May last to one year's imprisonment for burglary and larceny, died in his cell at the State Penitentiary, very suddenly, Wednesday evening, of suffocation, caused by the bursting of an abscess of the pharynx superinduced by inflammation of the tonsils. The prison physician, Dr. Helse, assisted by Dr. William Dougall, made a post-mortem examination and certified as to the cause of the man's death. [The Chicage Tribune. Saturday, January 27, 1877 -- submitted by Sharon Foe]
Been "Shoving the Queer."
Springfield, Ills., March 9-Peter Turner and J.W. Hamilton, both of Brooklyn, Massac county, have been bound over by United States commissioner Robinson at Cairo, charged with passing counterfeit money. They failed to give bail and were lodged in jail here.
(March 9, 1894, Davenport Daily Leader, Davenport Iowa. -- Submitted by S. Williams)
Pardoned on Deathbed
Springfield, Ills., Aug. 28 - Governor Yates yesterday afternoon pardoned John Lemly, who was convicted of murder in Massac county, 1896, and sentenced to ninety-nine years in the penitentiary. Lemly is broke in health and is practically on his deathbed now. He killed Benjamin Ladd in a quarrel over a woman.
(August 28, 1903, The Daily Review, Decatur Illinois -- Submitted by S. Williams)
Offers Reward for Murderer
Springfield - Gov. Deneen has issued a proclamation offering a reward of $200 for the apprehension, arrest and conviction of David Ray, a negro, charged with murder. Ray is accused of having shot and killed John Johnson on August 13, 1906, at Joppa, in Massac county. He made his escape and the efforts of the authorities to locate him have so far proved vain.
(March 22, 1907 Suburbanite Economist, Chicago Illinois. Submitted by S. Williams)
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