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Rochester Press
A Rochester Man Hung by a Pro-Slavery Mob in Kansas
The Leavenworth Herald of July 12, contains a letter dated at Paris, K.T., July 8, giving an account of the capture of Charles Doy (son of our former townsman, Dr. John Doy), by a band of pro-slavery ruffians, on a charge of horse-stealing – his escape, his subsequent capture, and his death. We quote:
On Thursday last a party of nine men, “armed and equipped as the law directs”, but without legal process, arrested one Henry Waffles and son, and Charles Doy, (son of John Doy), on a charge of horse stealing. They were tried, found guilty, and the sentence of death passed upon them. Doy and young Waffles succeeded in making their escape, the latter after being badly wounded.
The sentence was executed upon the old man Waffle. He was deliberately shot and his body left on the prairie.
On Friday night the same company enlarged by additional recruits, learning the Doy was concealed in a house owned by the old man Waffle, surrounded it about 10 o’clock, waited until daylight, procured a load of hay, fired it and succeeded in dislodging him. He was tried, condemned, and immediately suffered death.
Charles Doy emigrated from Rochester to Kansas in 1854, three months after his father and D.R. Anthony, of this city, went out, with the pioneer party from Boston. Young Doy (he was then under age) passed through all the more terrible conflicts attending the early settlement of Lawrence and Douglas county, and shared the most thrilling achievements of this little band of heroes, who so successfully resisted and repelled the incursions of the ruffian “chivalry.”
The offence for which they were kidnapped and imprisoned at Platte City and St. Joseph – where for months they were subjected to the grossest indignities their that their brutal captors could invent – was the attempted transportation of thirteen free colored persons, by the direction of the town board of Lawrence, from that city to the state of Iowa.
Dr. Doy returned to the eastern states, where he has since been lecturing on the history of Kansas. Charles, unfortunately, as we see, remained to protect the family, and has at last fallen a victim to the insatiable fury of a brutal, bloodyhanded mob. The letter which we quote, states the he “suffered death” – in what manner is not described. As he was dislodged by setting fire to the house, it is probably that he was shot in attempting to escape. Like his father, he was a man of distinguished bravery, impatient of wrong, ready in his resources, and fearless in his measures of resistance and redress. While he defied danger like a hero, he endured suffering with the fortitude of a martyr. His private character was irreproachable. He was modest in his demeanor, strong in his attachments, generous, self-sacrificing in behalf of his principles and his friends.
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Janesville (Wisconsin) Daily Gazette – August 9, 1860
Reprinted from the Boston Bee
Interesting Letter from Kansas
The brutal murder of Charles Doy and the Two Waffles.—The private letter below was put in our hands by Dr. Doy, of Kansas, who, it will be recollected, was arrested some months ago in Kansas for an alleged attempt to aid in the escape of fugitive slaves. He was imprisoned and sentenced to sxty-five years in the Missouri penitentiary, but was rescued by a party, at the head of which was his son Charles. This was the cause of the brutal murders which are detailed below. The letter is from a Mr, Archibald, a friend of Dr. Doy, and gives graphically the horrible details of these murders, as atrocious as those for which the infernal villain Hicks was hung. Yet these desperadoes are at large, and there is no prospect that any justice will bring them to their merited punishment.
Lawrence, Kansas Territory
July 17th, 1860
“My Dear Friend: Mrs. Doy and myself have just returned from the most eciting journey I ever traveled. We went to Moneka, a beautiful town seventy-five miles south of Lawrence, where your son Charles appears to have a large interest (six full town shares, containing a number of building lots each.) Although it is near the Missouri line it appears to have grown very fast, and it is quite a thriving country around it. The circumstances connected with Charles’ murder are these: On the night of the 5th of July, about midnight, a gang of about twenty men surrounded the house of Mr. Martin, whose house stands some little distance from the town, where Charles was stopping while he attended to business connected to his interests there. They called out Charles’ name, and Mr. Martin went to the door. Charles called out that whoever wanted him was to step to the door.
“They still continued to stand off, and demanded to Charles to come out or they would set fire to the house, using at the same time the most awful language. Mrs. Martin expecting to be confined every day, Charles thought it best not to endanger her. He therefore actually sprang out and ran the gauntlet through the crowd, receiving a severe shot through the leg near the knee.
Although a volley of shots was fired after him, he succeeded in getting to the house of Mr. Henry Waffle, (late of New York state,) some distance off.—The wretches then set fire to the house of Mr. Martin, with his poor wife in that condition, giving them six hours to leave the country. It appears Mr. Waffle and his son Harvey seeing the house of their neighbor was in flames had gone towards it to assist them. Charles and the Waffles passed each other, without either party knowing it. Mrs. Waffle says that Charles prepared deliberately to receive them should they follow him there, loading the guns and pistols.
“He put the little children under the bed, and advised Mrs. Waffle to follow them as soon as she heard them coming, In the meantime the party of ruffians had seen old Mr. Waffle and son going to assist to put out the fire, and told them they also had to die. When the old man asked why, the answer was, on account of the part he had taken in past troubles. They were both totally unarmed. The son took to his heels, but though badly wounded in the leg, still made the woods. The man received several shots, but still called to his boys to bring his rifle. But another volley took one side of his face and head off, and he fell dead. It appears they succeeded in getting Charles’ money, he leaving it in his hurry. It was quite a sum, with which he was about to continue his claim contest with one of the same stripe that now lives on his farm.
“To return to the house of William Waffle—they were not molested that night; Charles, it apeas, lame as he was by the shot, assisted by old Mrs. Waffle actually fetched home the body of the old man, went to the store for nails and necessary things to make a coffin, then went into a ravine near by and dug a grave; getting all ready to bury the old man, although Mrs. Waffle says she begged him to make his escape, as they would kill him. But he looked round upon the little children and the widow, and the wounded son whom he had succeeded in getting from the woods, and said he could not leave them, but would die protecting them. The editor of the Mound City paper told me that Charles attended to the wants of the family at the store and in the town that day, as if nothing was the matter more than common. At midnight, Mrs, Waffle said, while he was screwing down the lid of the coffin, as they were about to bury the old man, the gang again appeared, and got close to the house before Charles observed them, when he sprang into the bedroom and put the little ones under the bed, and carried the guns, and &c., that he had prepared to the door, and continued to fire until all were discharged. It appears he mortally wounded three of those brutish men, but received a shot in the breast. He threw himself on the bed, and told Mrs. Waffle that they had finished him. “After a few seconds he again jumped up and exclaimed, “This will never do.” He advised her to get under the bed with the children, and he would draw off their attention. He got out of the window, being very feeble, and made his way to the valley at the back of the house. Here he was again overtaken by the wretches, who fired a volley breaking his leg and otherwise mangling him. They left him for dead. At early dawn one of them went and looked at him and was surprised to find him still alive. Charles asked for water, but the person left, and the gang, who must have been near, returned and left the body riddled with a large number of bullet holes.—Our friends buried him under a beautiful tree, where Mrs, Doy and myself went and wept over the spot that contains as great and heroic a heart as ever beat in human breast.
“It appears an inquest was held upon the body of the old man Waffle, and Charles would be a witness, therefore they said, “dead men tell no tales,” and kill him they would. This caused their second return to make sure work. These fellows told Mrs. Waffle that the troubles of ’56 were not yet settled.—They then drove her and the children out of the house and set fire to it, burning all their clothes, furniture, and &c., with the body of Mr. Waffle. They have given her notice to leave the country in six days, or die. This is the spirit of slavery. This journey and examination has sickened my very soul. They remember you, and mind, they will follow you for years. They cannot afford to let such blood as Charles’ live, it endangers them.
John C. Archibald
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From the Bates County (Mo) Standard
Reprinted in the Fort Wayne (Indiana) Sentinel – August 8, 1860
Excitement in Kansas – Hanging of Horse Thieves – Killing of Charlie Doy and Others
Most of our readers doubtless remember the circumstances of the Doys escape from the St. Joseph jail in 1858’; the consequent excitement upon their trial; the sympathy aroused on their behalf, etc. They were visited in jail by some persons unknown to them, who frightened the jailer, demanded the keys with packed pistols, and set the scoundrels at liberty. But it is not generally known that Charley Doy stole the horse of the man who released him, rode off, and left his liberator afoot, keeping the jailer in abeyance, while he (Charley) made his escape – yet it is so.
Well, the Doys went to the Territory, and have been engaged in a lively system of horse stealing ever since, have been connected with all successful raids in which horses have been carried off, and propagating the principles of Jay-hawking and abolitionism generally. It seems that recently the good people of Linn County have taken a notion to rid themselves of the infliction of the band of marauders, and accordingly formed themselves into a vigilance committee to ferret them out. Old man Doy is, it seems, absent at the (?) (doubtless making his “returns”) and, meanwhile, Charley has been boarding with a friend and partner named Martin, who resides around two miles from Mound City. This became know n in the Vigilance Committee, and on Friday morning last, about two o’clock, a party went to the house and commenced firing upon it. Charely took to his heels and left by the back way. The party then set fire to the house, and started over to the house of one Waffles, a member of the band, about two hundred yards distant. They met Waffles and Charley coming back, and commenced shooting, killing old Waffles and wounding his son.
The regulators then went back to Martin’s house and hung him to a tree until he disclosed the names of his entire band of thieves and the fact that a number of horses were then secreted in a ravine not far off. The work of the regulators was not fairly opened, and they prosecuted it vigorously. Next day they found Charley Doy in a hotel in Mound City, standing in the door, and called him to surrender, when Charley commenced firing upon them, wounding two of their party and receiving a slight flesh wound himself. He then fled to the prairie, running up a ravine some distance from town. In the meantime, a party of regulators from Moneka were coming down, and seeing Charley, called him to stop; upon his not stopping, they fired upon him and broke his leg. They then hurried on to Mound City, and a party proceeded to the house of old Doy, ordered his wife to take out such things as she wanted, and immediately set fire to the shanty, which burned to the ground. Some of the party then went to look after Charley Doy in the prairie, and to make short work of it, shot him through the head. The two young Waffles were then sent after some cattle, which had been stolen and driven off, and then ordered to leave.
We are unable to obtain the names of all the thieves taken, or of those interested in the work of exterminating them. The number of the former is said to be almost beyond comprehension, but those engaged in the work of riddance seem equal to the task, judging from the commencement. It is hoped they may be altogether successful.
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The Banner of Liberty – Middletown, New York – 8/15/1860
What Sort of Ken the Kansas Saints and Martyrs Are
A short time ago the Republican papers contained notices of the killing of Doy and Waffle, in Kansas, for horse stealing, and spoke of them as the best and most heroic of men, who were coolly murdered by "pro-slavery ruffians" for their freesoil principles, and their services in the Kansas war. The New Tork Journal of Commerce says that another version has now come to hand, from an undoubted republican source, confirming the original stories and pronouncing these abandoned men, who at length fell victims to their
own madness, to have been what "pro-slavery" journals have always insisted they were, mere robbers, murderers, and desperadoes. It seems that they got to preying on their own kind, even their very neighbors had in self defense to slaughter those dear friends of the human race, and their brethren in abolition faith.
The correspondent of the Chicago Journal, writing from Mound City, Linn Co., Kansas, July 28th, says:
The recent tragedy in this neighborhood—the killing of Charles Doy and Henry Waffle, has been represented by most of the Territorial Journals as a cold-blooded murder " without just cause or provocation." The friends and associates of the deceased have seized upon the opportunity to write to Republican editors declaring that Doy and Waffle were assassinated by pro-slavery ruffians for no offense but their anti-slavery principles. There is not, however, a semblance of truth in these reports. The unfortunate men were killed by their own antislavery neighbors—by men who have known them intimately for years—by those who were their camp associates and companions in arms in the "Jay Hawker War" of 1858, and they were killed only because they were the most desperate and dangerous villains of the Territory of Kansas. For more than two years they have been connected with a gang of thieves and robbers, and during that time have committed crimes enough to damn a multitude. The evidence of their guilt as murderers, as well as thieves and robbers was so clear and strong as to amount to a complete demonstration. They did nothing but commit crime during the two years that preceded their death. Hence they were dreaded as no other desperaperadoes as no other desperadoes were ever dreaded by the people of Southern Kansas, because to do so waa to invite assassination. They admitted to their "Jay Hawker" comrades tbat they were living upon the fruits of crime, but warned them to seal their lips if they would spare their own lives. Hence the necessity of striking them down or of not striking at all.
Probably the villains would have been spared much longer, had they not stolen of those who knew them best, men who had once saved their lives when sought by the victims of their bold robberies. They grew lazy, and undertook to pursue their business without too much travel. And in this they lost. Waffle
was shot ou the morning of the 6th, and Doy on the morning of the 7th. The latter made a full confession before he was finally dispatched. The house of Waffle was relieved of the stolen goods secreted within its wall, and then burned to the earth on the morning of the hot Saturday.
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The New York Times - August 10, 1860
The Recent Murders in Kansas
Mr. J.W. BABB, Chairman of a Mass Convention of the citizens of Linn County, K.T., held at Mound City on the 26th July, to obtain an expression of popular feeling regarding the recent murder of CHARLES DOY and HENRY WAFFLE, has published a long statement, regarding the affair, in the Lawrence Republican. It charges that DOY and WAFFLE persisted in robbing the people of the County, indiscriminately. It would have been well could the summary mode of punishing the culprit which was resorted to have been avoided. On this point Mr. BABB says for the Committee: "Yet, though holding to these views, and though they deeply deplore the terrible mode of the execution of DOY and WAFFLE, they have no doubt of the justice of their punishment, nor do they feel called upon to condemn the men who took upon themselves the responsibility of thus ridding the country of a long-endured and terrible scourge. Though shocked by the tragedy, the people rejoice that the most desperate and dangerous land pirates that ever found shelter in our midst are safe in their ignominious graves, and that henceforth, our cattle and horses may graze upon the prairie without danger of being taken as the common plunder of those greedy thieves. The work that was done, though bloody and revolting in its terrible details, was nevertheless well done, and the people would have nothing recalled. Let the miscreant dead lie in their gory graves, and let the ashes of their late den of iniquity be speedily wasted by the winds of Heaven. Aye, and let the bloody tragedy, revolting as it may be, ever be remembered as an awful warning to those who would stain their hearts and pollute their souls with deeds of crime