Judge Lynch and Company

by Rocky Macy

A few weeks ago in this space I posted an "Ancestor Archives" profile about Charles Macy, my great-great-grandfather who died under mysterious circumstances in Newton County, Missouri, on February 28, 1876.  In that piece I related an old family story that had been passed down to me by my father.  Dad said that masked intruders had come to Charles' home and taken him away, and that he was never heard from again. 

 I also made note of the fact that vigilantism was not uncommon during that period, and that one very famous Ozark vigilante group, the Baldknobbers, were operating throughout southwest Missouri at the time of my great-great-grandfather's alleged abduction.  Vigilantes were used to make up for the shortage of law enforcement in the rapidly expanding settlement of rural areas.  They dispensed "justice," settled old scores such as those left over from the Civil War, and sometimes even moved against abusive husbands.

The immediate family of Charles Macy may have not been informed of the specifics of his demise, but six months later his wife, Mary Jane Macy, a woman who did not know how to sign her own name, was assisted in filing probate on his estate by some responsible men in the neighborhood - and indication that everyone knew he was dead and the court accepted the fact of his death.

I believe the old family story about the disappearance of Charles Macy for a couple of reasons.  First, for my father to have knowledge of that tale, it would have likely started being told by his (my dad's) grandfather, William Stephen Macy, who was a boy of thirteen in that household at the time of his father's removal.  His mother may have known exactly what happened to her husband, and why, but from young Will's perspective he saw his father being strong-aremed out of the house by masked men and never returning.  William S. Macy could have told that story directly to my dad, who was a young teen when his grandfather died, or, more likely, he told it to his son who passed it along to the next generation - my dad.  At the absolute most, the story only had two stops before reaching me, so it could have been altered and embellished, but the core of the tale was likely still fairly accurate.

Second, there is no marker for Charles Macy in the cemetery where is wife is buried.   That could be an indication that his body was not returned to the family, or that the family did not consider him worthy of a stone.  Mary Jane has a nice stone at her grave, and their son, William, became a man of property who could have had proper stones put in place for both of his parents.

But that is all speculation, and the actual circumstances of the death of Charles Macy are now unlikely to ever be known with any degree of certainty.   This week, however, I have come across some information that, while not addressing the specifics of the case of Charles Macy, does give some further insight into vigilantism in Newton County, Missouri, at the time of my great-great-grandfather's alleged abduction from his home.

I have been reviewing a reprint of "Goodspeed's 1888 History of McDonald and Newton Counties," and found a couple of items of interest and possible relevance.   From the section on "County Societies" in the Newton County portion of the book, the second "society" discussed  was the "Newton County Protective Society" which also referred to itself as "vigilantes."  The following description is from page 238:

“The Newton County Protective Society, or Vigilantes, formally organized in September 1875.  O.P. Hawkins presided, with B.J. Morrow, secretary.   A.M. Williams, J.C. Herms and Dr. Maas were appointed a committee on resolutions, while the following district committees were ordered to raise funds toward capturing the desperadoes:  Newtonia, J.M. Ritchey, E.H. Grabill;  Granby, Judge Crane, Louis Rant, and M. Fishel;  Seneca, J.C. Murdock and T.H. Reeves;  Dayton, R.C. Greer;  Franklin, Moses Eagle and James Kelly;  Ritchey, R.T. Cowan;  Thurman, J.F. Livingstone;  Shoal Creek, John S. Redding;  Marion, D.H. Moore and W. G. Baynham;  Benton, J.W. Roseberry;  Buffalo, P.F. Hutchison;  Neosho, William Pacey, A.C. Choate, Matt Spurgeon, Jacob Stewart and G.H. Martling.” 

It's worth noting that the vigilante group was formed less than six months before my great-great-grandfather's alleged abduction, and that his township, Dayton, was represented in the group.

Another portion of the "Goodspeed's History" focused on "Crimes and Accidents" and chronicled some of the more newsworthy events that happened between 1855 and 1887.  While Charles Macy was not mentioned in any of those accounts, there were reports of "justice" that had obviously been meted out in an extra-judicial manner.  Here is one example taken from page 199:

“In June, 1870, Dr. Taylor was hanged by Judge Lynch & Co. at Medoc, Jasper County, the charge being ill-treatment of his family.”

Dr. Taylor was more than likely a resident of Newton County, or his execution would not have been included in that county's history - and it is probably safe to assume that "Judge Lynch and Co." was a euphemism for a lynch mob.

I suspect that Charles Macy also ran afoul of Judge Lynch and Company, but being a poor dirt farmer was not important enough to earn a mention in his county's official history.

But again, that is all speculation.

This Court is now in recess.