
“Our reporter learned the particulars from a passenger on the Carrie, last Wednesday, of twin tragedies that occured in Lewis county, Kentucky, last Monday and Tuesday, in which a life for a life was given. Washington Lee, the chief actor in the drama, was a white man living near Tollesboro, Kentucky, and while not a desperate character as has been represented, was one of those wild and reckless men so commonly found in those mountainous regions. He was about 40 years of age, and had a wife and children. It seems that Lee was not happy in his marital relations and the current belief was that he had good reason to believe that Robert Ellis, a young man of 26, in that neighborhood had combined to destroy the bond of union between husband and wife.”

“On Monday afternoon Ellis saw him, and as he drew near him felt apprehensive of danger. Lee’s own story is as follows: ‘He said: ‘I went near Ellis, and he tried to divert me by pleasant remarks, one of which was ‘that is a very nice gun you have.’ ‘Yes’ I said, ‘and it shoots well.’ ‘I then accused him of criminal intercourse with my wife, and he admitted that it had been going on for years. I then cocked the gun and he lifted up his hands and asked me not to shoot, but I shot. As he fell he begged me not to shoot again, and tried to raise up his hands saying I had already killed him, but I fired the second barrel.'”

“Lee was correct as to the shooting. The gun was heavily charged with slugs, and the first load shattered Ellis’ arm and cut the cradle snath in two. The contents of the first and second barrels literally riddled the vital parts of Ellis’ body, whose death was instantaneous. Some workmen engaged in an adjoining field were attracted by the reports of the gun, and they hurried to the scene of the tragedy. Lee’s brother-in-law was among the number, and seeing what had taken place, warned Lee to run for his life. Lee dropped his weapon and hurried to Tollesboro, where he surrendered to the authorities, and was taken to the Vanceburg jail, fifteen miles distant. Ellis was buried by the Masonic fraternity, Tuesday, many attending the funeral from Vanceburg. Our informant states that he did not believe there was any strong feeling to punish the murderer, and if it hadn’t leaked out that he could be taken from jail with absolute impunity, there would have been no mob law. Whether this was correct or not, Ellis was soon to be avenged. On Tuesday evening last a band of sixty men, from the vicinity of Tollesboro, appeared at the Vanceburg jail, and demanded the surrender of Lee. The jailer made a show of resistance, but shortly unlocked the jail, and Lee was hurried out of the town by the mob.”

“When one hundred yards from the town he was taken into an express, the mob mounted their horses that had been left out of town, and after going a mile with their prisoner the cavalcade and express were halted, and a rope put around the doomed man’s neck. The leader then put it to vote whether he should be hung, and from the shadowed woods of the forest, just as darkness began to creep over the land, the hoarse assenting voices sealed the fate of their victim.”

“When asked if he had anything to say, he replied that he was willing to answer any questions, but he had no apology to offer. He then told the story of his wrongs and his revenge. Our informant who had, with others, followed the lynchers, saw Lee standing alone in the express, bound and helpless, but at no time craven-hearted, at no time manifesting bravado, ready to die. He was jeered at and insulted by flippant questions and toyed with until the patience of his murderers gave way, when the rope was attached to an overhanging limb, and he was then thrown out of the express. There were a few convulsive movements of the body, and Wash Lee was before another court than the one which had taken his life by the forest roadside, and made orphans of his children. Not content with their work, the contents of a double barreled gun were fired into his breast, fully fifteen minutes after life was extinct. After regaling themselves for half an hour with the sight of their dead victim, the raiders departed. When the sound of their horses’ hoofs had died out, out informant and his companions approached the spot and striking a match looked upon the lifeless handiwork of diabolism.”

“The sight was one that drove sleep from the eyes for that night. Blood from the gunshot wounds was dripping from his garments, his countenance was distorted, and his eyes cavernous.”
“The body was not taken down until 8 o’clock Wednesday morning, when a verdict was rendered in accordance with the facts.”
“The lynchers were not masked. They were on a murderous errand, to punish a crime, which, if our information is true, was one that the courts alone should have dealt with, and one that by his conversation in the jail a few hours before he was taken out, he believe was palliated by the great wrong done him. He said, ‘I counted the cost and felt that I might hand for this, but my home, my peace of mind and my happiness had been destroyed and these called for punishment. If it was to do over again I would do the same.'”

“Mob law numbers many unjustifiable acts, and we believe this is one of them. Should it prove to be so, the men who defied law, and, unmasked, took from the officers of justice and condemned and executed Washington Lee without a hearing, should feel the rigorous punishment of the law that they violated. The brutes who fired into the bosom of the dead man are fiends, and the law should lay its strong arm upon them in merited punishment. The reputation of our sister State demands that this matter should be sifted to the bottom, justice administered, and Judge Lynch and his blind followers taught a lesson for future heed.”1