Merrick, New York Times, June 2, 1932

Merrick, New York Times, June 2, 1932

Merrick, Walter

Mob, hanging

Charge, dynamiting a general store

Kentuckians Lynch Dynamite Suspect

PRINCETON, Ky., June 1 (AP).--Walter Merrick, 48, white, was taken from the county jail by a mob late last night and his body was found hanging from a tree three miles from here today. The lynching party entered the room of the jailer, Curt Jones, bound him, took his keys and departed with the prisoner without arousing any citizens. Merrick was to have been tried June 13 on a charge of dynamiting the store of M. P’Poole at Hopson, near here, last February. P’Poole was seriously injured and was in a hospital at Nashville two months. A boy near the building suffered a broken arm because of the blast. Intense feeling over the explosion caused a fear of mob violence after Merrick was arrested in February, but it was believed to have subsided. The lynching was a complete surprise. Six automobiles in procession moved into Princeton late in the night, stopped at the jail and a few minutes later were speeding toward Hopson. Merrick, according to his fellow-prisoners, said nothing when taken. Half an hour after the departure, from the jail Jones succeeded in arousing other members of his family, who released him, and he then notified officers. The P’Poole explosion, authorities charged, was set off by Merrick as a result of his son being whipped by a school teacher. Merrick carried the case to court, where P’Poole, as chairman of the county school board, sided with the teacher.

The New York Times

1932-06-02

Grace Yi

Image

Caldwell County