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Christian
County Its First Hundred Years |
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Even before daylight on the morning of May 10, 1889, every
road into Ozark was clogged with continuous traffic of horses,
wagons, buggies and people on foot. As the morning advanced, the
prisoners could see through the open but barred windows of the jail
the sunlight of a cloudless day playing on the maples of the
Highlandville Hill to the South. Through the trees was plainly visible
the winding road that led toward Bull Creek. And down this road to
the City slowly traveled their friends and neighbors; men and women
of the hills, approaching to be with them to the last. The crowd
reached thousands. Newspaper reporters from Springfield, Kansas
City, St. Louis and other cities were present. At 8:45 Sheriff Johnson
read the death warrants and furnished white shirts, collars, black ties,
new suits and shoes for the three men. Young Walker tied the black
neckties in neat bows for his father and Mathews. At 9:30 the Sheriff
strapped the men's hands behind their backs, David first, then
William, and Mathew's last. David climbed the scaffold first, followed
by his son, each stepping firmly. Mathews followed, unsteadily.
Religious ceremony was held. David spoke his last words, then Will,
than Mathews. The Sheriff adjusted the noose about Mathews neck
first, then David, and Young Will. Father and son turned and
embraced and the black cap was placed first on William, then Dave
and finally Mathews.
Precisely at 9:55 A.M. the trap was sprung and the men fell. A cry of horror went up from the few spectators in the enclosure. The new ropes stretched and Dave Walker's feet touched the ground. The noose about William's neck had come off and he lay on the ground, unconscious. Mathews died quickly, and as David ceased to struggle, William, regaining consciousness, was lifted back to the platform. His first words were a prayer and when he realized he was to be hanged again, he said, "For God's sake, hurry". With the noose about his neck again, he said, "God, I commit myself to thee," and dropped through the trap. Thirty-four minutes from the time the trap was first sprung, the bodies were placed in a row on white sheets, covered, and the Coroner's inquest was held.
Two members of the G.A.R. Post of Ozark assumed responsibility for conveyance of the bodies of David and Wil-
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