The shooting of Nelson R. Town at his farm near Kennard about six o’clock on Friday morning of this week, by Charles Pratt, is now attracting attention on the streets of Blair as we go to press, and the more the people talk of it the more excited they become. It so happened that he was caught almost within an hour of the shooting by a number of threshers, just as he emerged from a cornfield and before he reached the grove. The cool-headed boys who took him, among whom was Lou Brown and young Mr. Blanchard, at once started with him to Blair, and met Sheriff Harriman and posse on the road to the scene of trouble. The sheriff’s posse was armed, and the wonder is that trouble was evaded. We are thus enabled to congratulate the cool heads of the good people of this county upon their good sense and judgement. We have seen one hanging bee and one shooting match in our lives, and have no desire to be a spectator to any such folly again, so long as we live. The law of the land is all sufficient, and we forbear to make comments on the atrocity of the crime. The district court meets on the 8th of September, and a speedy trial can be had. Hon. W. C. Walton, county attorney, is thoroughly competent for the task of prosecution, and we have no fear of the results at the hands of a jury of our citizens.

The Blair Courier Saturday, 16 August 1890

Murder

Of N. R. Towne, and Fatal Shooting of His Daughter.

Miss Hattie is Still Alive, but She will Surely Die

After Shooting them Both Down the Murdered Flees for His Life, but is Surrounded by neighbors of the Dead Man and Forced to Surrender.

The Murder Behind The Bars

A foul and dastardly murder was committed at the premises of N. R. Towne, about 3 ¼ miles southwest of Kennard, near the railroad track, on Friday morning at about breakfast time, by a fellow named Charley Pratt. This fellow was seen in Blair on Thursday by a number of men, but had no appearance of intoxication. He had tramped the wagon road from Blair in the evening, and had evidently camped in the near vicinity of the Towne residence overnight in some hay stack or barn. He was first seen in the rear of the residence, where he approached Mr. Town and his daughter, Miss Hattie, near the milk house, where an altercation took place, when Pratt drew a revolver from his pocket and shot Mr. Towne, the ball entering the heart and killing him instantly. It appears from the circumstances that Miss Hattie turned to run into the house and he fired on her, the ball striking her in the small of the back inflecting, what at this hour is said to be a mortal wound. The son George, now grown, and for the past year a cadet in the state university at Lincoln, assisted by near neighbors, at once organized for the arrest of the murderer. A number of neighbors had assembled at the wheat field of Mr. John ?, threshing and receiving word, proceeded to form a guard line???? Corn field. Others proceeded in search of arms, when all at once the murderer emerged on open ground, to the west of the Maddis grove. No arms had yet arrived, of which the murderer was not apprised, and the brave fellows held him at bay with only nature’s protection. A shot gun, we think in the hands of G. R. Towne, soon reached the scene and the guard closed in, and the murderer surrendered. Three of the men, Lou Brown, Fred Ramsen and young Blanchard, took him in custody in a good firm seated rig and at once started for Blair. These cool headed boys drove like Jehu, for they soon found that they were being pursued by a relief corps who followed them two miles, but the wagon was loaded down and could not catch up. Sheriff Harriman had spent the day Thursday in Council Bluffs on legal business and Thursday night with the writer in the convention at Omaha, and arrived in Blair at 8:30, within two hours after the capture. He had been notified of the murder by telegram, and proceeded at once to select a posse and go to the assistance of the people in making the arrest. His posse were armed with Winchester rifles and meant business. They had not reached Kennard when the guard met them with the prisoner in charge. Deputy Sheriff Mencke had gone on ahead of the sheriff and had met the posse further along in the road. At this first meeting Winchesters were drawn, and but for the firmness of a gallant officer, trouble would have occurred. The posse for the moment forgot that they were deputy sheriffs and represented the peace and dignity if the State of Nebraska. When arms were restored all went quickly to the jail in Blair, and the prisoner was locked in an interior cell. Sheriff Harriman at once proceeded to hold a coroner’s inquest, and left the jail and prisoner in the custody of the deputy.

The prisoner justifies his act by saying that he had a just cause, and it is said that he worked on the farm for a little time as far back as 1886. He is a hard-hearted villain, and not withstanding his depravity, he frequently drew a long breath as the sixteen mile journey to Blair was being completed.

It was reported at 10 o’clock that Hattie Towne was dying, and it is said she cannot live. Drs. Hadley and Pruner, of Kennard, were summoned, and Dr. Brown was sent for, but the Doctor had just parted with the writer in Omaha at 3 o’clock on Friday morning for his old home in Smythe county, Virginia.

Dr. Pruner informs us that the man Pratt, who shot N. R. Towne in cold blood, yesterday morning, boasts that he came all the way from Missouri to commit the act, and it was his intention to have killed the whole family but for their screams, which alarmed him. The young lady is in great pain at times, and Dr. Coffman has been wired for to probe the wound, which is to the left and rear of the heart. The ball entered the center of the breast of Mr. Towne. Mrs. Towne is nearly heart-broken with grief, and has the sympathies of everybody, and many tears are shed for her.

The murderer is about 28 years of age, five feet and ten inches high, dark complexion, dark eyes and eyebrows, dark mustache. He is decidedly weak in his knees at the present time, and groaned terribly at the approach of our footsteps in direction of his cell.

Later – The sheriff held coroner’s court with a jury on Friday forenoon over the dead body of Mr. Towne, and took the evidence. The jury found that the murder is of premeditated malice and without provocation, making it murder in the first degree. A hanging bee is threatened openly, but we hope that wiser counsels may prevail.

Blair Courier 23 Aug 1890

The Lynching of Charles Pratt

The coroners jury had sat upon the death of N. R. Towne and had brought in a verdict when we went to press late on Friday afternoon. Knots of armed men, with determined countenances, sat about the streets and at convenient spots where all the movements of Sheriff Harriman and deputy Sheriff Mencke could be seen. It was in the first place determined that no action should be taken until after the electric lights were shut off, provided no move was made to take the murderer out of the county. But nothing was and all that one could learn was what he could see. It was like a great calm before a hard storm. By night a number of farmers on the street had increased, and they were silent and appeared to be very agreeable . At night an occasional man appeared on the streets with a gun as though there was to be a hunt on the morning, but nothing was said. We took a drive with the sheriff who had evidently been apprised of the signs of the coming storm, but who meant to defend his charge as far as possible without the shedding of blood. The crowd increased on Colfax street until nearly ??? men and boys were along the walks of Colfax street at 10 o’clock. The jail was closely guarded by the sheriff, the deputy and some ten heavily armed guards. No one came ? and no disturbance was made about the premises. All respected the office of the sheriff and the officer was not ??ested. At about 11 o’clock a rumbling of wheels was heard coming down the Carter hollow and teams were hitched in all parts of the town. The procession of armed men to the number of about seventy-five formed and marched around the old court house to W. C. Walton’s residence, there south by the Methodist church to the gate by the jail. There the men right wheeled over the fence into the jail garden and over the flower beds, gradually closing in upon the sheriff, whose orders to halt was wholly unheeded, as if they were unheard. The guards receded and stepped aside as the crowd approached, and to have fired a shot with a Winchester rifle, would have killed and wounded a large number of men as the throng pressed right in upon the rear of the armed men. The sheriff stood his ground until strong men lay hands on him and overpowered him, tearing his clothes and disarming him. He found resistance useless and gave up the struggle. The storm door was struck and a wedge applied to the iron door where the sheriff seeing that the cells and doors must inevitably yield to the force applied, and in order to save the property, was advised to give up the keys, which were reluctantly yielded to the superior force. The doors were unlocked and a rope thrown around the prisoners head by which he was lead on into the jail yard, and a halt was made at the nearest tree. The prisoner called for a chew of tobacco which was granted him by one of the crowd. When asked if he had anything to say why he should not be hung he asked them to loosen up the rope. He informed them that he had no regrets and asked them to tighten up the rope which they did and in less than a half hour he was swinging in the night air for a projecting limb of a maple tree. The men departed and the morning dawned upon a quiet town, and Pratt was not only a dead man but he was also buried in the potter’s field in a plain box within thirty hours after he fired the shot that killed N. R. Towne. The afternoon was cloudy with a little rain, and the funeral of N. R. Towne also occurred in the Blair cemetery followed by a train of sad neighbors and friends.

The sheriff and his deputy are entitled to the thanks and the gratitude of their fellow citizens for their forbearance, which, under the intense feeling, would have resented a pistol shot even if fired into the air. They did all that could have been expected of them by reasonable men, to prevent the infraction of the law. To have pursued a different course would have resulted in unbounded bloodshed with no compensating results. As to the men engaged, they were neighbors to the murdered man and good law abiding citizens. Nothing could have led them into bloodshed but the enormity of the crime, and the certainty that they had the right man. Passion was not high, but the conviction that an immediate execution was necessary for the safety of society urged them on. We hope the fair record of Washington county may never more be blackened with a page of crime and murder, such as was the shooting of N. R. Towne. It was thought that young Pratt had an altercation with Mr. Towne when he worked for him as a farm hand, and that he had placed his account into our hands for collection. But while we have a faint recollection of having met Pratt when he quit, we do not remember anything further. Our books don’t show that we had any business transactions with or for him. It is possible that we had, but we do not consider it probable, or some record of it would appear in our register and none appears there. On Saturday morning a coroner’s jury was empaneled by the sheriff in the absence of the corner, composed of prominent citizens of Blair and the guards and deputy sheriff testified with other witnesses before it. The jury returned the following verdict:

State of Nebraska, Washington County: SS

At an inquisition held in at Blair, in Washington county, Nebraska, on the 16th day of August, 1890, before me, Frank Harriman, sheriff and acting Coroner of said county, upon the body of Charles Pratt, lying dead, by the jurors whose names are hereunto subscribed, the said jurors, upon their oath, do say that the said Charles Pratt came to his death on the 15th day of August, 1890, in the City of Blair, Nebraska, by means of being hung by the neck, by a rope until he was dead, at the hands of a mob and divers parties who are to the jurors unknown.

In testimony whereof, the said jurors have hereunto set their hands the day and year aforesaid.

John W. Boggs; J. F. Wiseman; Theo. Haller; Wm. McCormick; Sam Gerhart; W. h. Palmer

Blair Courier 23 August 1890

It is hard for us to consent to what is popularly called lynch law, but if there ever was a case that was justifiable, it was the hanging of Charles Pratt in the jail lot last Friday night by unknown men. The murderer was given a fair investigation by the coroner’s jury, and its verdict and his own verdict and his own confession was a sufficient justification of his execution in view of the fact that he in no way attempted to conceal his crime, but rather bartered death. The further fact that he was visited by the board of insanity, and his mental condition ascertained adds strength to the conviction that his sentence and execution were both just, and that he paid the debt as the law required, although his execution was without the formality of the books. We trust that another summary execution may never be necessary in Washington county. Criminal lawyers, who are responsible in a large degree for the delays of the law’s regular and proper process, will take no advantage of technicalities in the case of Charles Pratt.

Murderer-lynched by a mob in Blair, NE

About 27 years of age.

Blair, Neb. Aug. 17, 1890. [ Omaha Bee Special. ] One of the most deliberately planned as well its most coolly executed lynchings in the history of the state was carried out about a mile from this place shortly before midnight.

It was just 11:30 when a crowd of mounted farmers rode into town , and were speedily joined by fully two hundred citizens. No time was lost and they proceeded to the jail where the sheriff and about fifteen deputies were keeping guard over Charles Pratt, the murderer of N. R. Town.

The sheriff ordered them to stand back and positively refused to turn over the prisoner. The mob was heavily armed, but made no demonstration with their weapons. The parleying was of short duration and the sheriff was overpowered and his keys taken from him. A rush was made for the cell room and in an incredibly short time Pratt was jerked outside the jail. He was surrounded by the lynchers, who at once started for a small grove about 1 mile from town.

The lynching party was led by Harry Town, son of the murdered man. Arriving at the scene of the intended lynching, young Town was given the privilege of tying the rope about the murderer's neck, and also of having the first pull on the rope.

Town was not bashful about accepting the honors offered, and tied a knot that would have done credit to a professional hangman. The end of the rope was thrown over a limb, and hauled taut. Pratt was then told that if he had anything to say he had better say it quickly. He replied that he would say a few words if the rope was loosened a little, and then they might pull away "just as hard as they d __d please. The rope was slacked and Pratt then stated that he killed Town and meant to kill the whole family. He declared that he came up from Missouri purposely to do the job, and firmly intended to kill every one of the Town family. He was sorry that he had failed. He said he had owned a farm near the one owned by the Towns, and worked hard to make a living, but the Town family imposed upon him to such an extent that he could not save a cent. At this juncture some one in the crowd wanted to know what that had to do with the girl. Before Pratt could respond the rope was given a pull, and he was jerked into the air. He struggled frantically for a few seconds , but the lynchers grimly held his neck tightly against the limb, and in two or three minutes the lifeless corpse of the murderer was swinging slightly to and fro in the night wind. The rope was made fast to the trunk of the tree and the crowd of vigilantes came quietly back to town. In about fifteen minutes the farmers left for their homes, but little knots of citizens gathered on the corners and discussed the event.

The sheriff, Frank Harriman , followed the crowd to the scene of the lynching and was a witness to the hanging. None of the lynchers make any effort to conceal his identity. Not a mask was worn, and no endeavor was made to keep the affair quiet. The lynchers were determined, and it is not believed that a company of militia could have saved Pratt's life. Pratt stated in jail that he had no regrets for what he had done, and public indignation ran so high that it would have been possible at any time to have raised a crowd inside of five minutes to have done the work that was not done until to-night.

The crime for which Pratt was lynched was the murder of N. R. Town, an old resident of Washington county, living southwest of Kennard, and the probably fatal wounding of his daughter. Pratt , who worked for Mr. Town four years ago, came upon them about sunrise and commenced shooting. They were out doors near the cow shed. A son of Town's ran in the house , procured a shot gun and followed the man on horseback, never losing sight of him, and ran him into a crowd of men that were threshing. He gave up and was bound and brought to Blair and placed in jail. The murderer admits he did it. When asked why he did it he said : "l am even now. I expect to go to hell and may as well go now as any time. "

New York Times August 17, 1890

A Murderer Lynched

Blair, Neb., Aug. 16. – Charles Pratt was lynched by a mob shortly before midnight last night for the murder of Farmer N. B. Town yesterday morning. About 11 o’clock seventy five men came from the country to town. They were soon joined by 200 others from the city and marched directly to the jail. The Sheriff was there, together with fifteen deputies, all of whom were armed. They made no display of their weapons. All the lynchers were armed with guns and revolvers. The Sheriff refused to deliver the keys to the jail, but was soon overpowered, the deputies offered no resistance to the invaders. The crowd quickly made its way to the cell in which Pratt was confined, and seizing him , carried him about a mile from town where his hands and feet were bound. Pratt was then asked if he had anything to say and he replied that the Towns had wronged him and he was sorry that he did not kill them all. While he was speaking someone gave the rope a pull and he died.

~~~ Obituary courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair Public Library at Blair, Nebraska.~~~ Note: Buried in the Blair Potters Field; Find a Grave # 117478482