Sarah Alice Laughlin (1859 - 1875)

Born 3 Oct 1859 in Logan, Ohio

Ancestors

Died 23 Sep 1875 at age 15 in Logan, Ohio

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Biography

Murdered near Lewiston Reservoir while picking wild plums with James Schell, an employee of her father's. Schell was charged with the crime, dragged from jail by a mob, and lynched. Evidence in the case, however, implicated Schell's wife in the crime. Laughlin History, p. 23, says only that she died a "tragic death."

The data from which the following sketch is written is furnished by E. E. Nafus, Esq. Perhaps the most terrible crime which has blackened the fair pages of Logan County's history occurred within the borders of Richland Township. Yet, while we think with horror of the fiendish brutality of the worse than savage murderer, it is consoling to know that justice, sure and certain, quickly followed. The circumstances are briefly as follows: James Schell, a Canadian, had resided with his family for some years on the farm of ----- Laughlin, near Belle Centre. Having contracted an intense hatred for his employer, he lost no opportunity to do him injury. Mr. L. had two houses burned under circumstances that pointed to Schell as the cause, but nothing was done about it. Mr. L., being strictly upright, believed others the same. On Wednesday, September 22, 1875, Schell induced Miss Alice Laughlin, daughter of his employer, to accompany himself and wife to the reservoir to gather wild plums. Returning late in the day, he stated that "Allie was lost." The news spread like wild-fire, and soon the country for miles around was aroused. A strict search was instituted, which resulting in finding, on the day following, the dead and brutally mangled body of the girl. Schell was arrested, and so intense was the feeling against him that it was with difficulty the excited citizens were prevented from hanging him on the spot. Better counsel prevailed, however, and he was taken to Bellefontaine and lodged in jail. The day following, at the inquest, Mrs. Schell testified that her husband had killed the girl for revenge on her father; that he had burned the buildings before mentioned, etc. A few words will tell the sequel: At about twelve o'clock Friday night a crowd of at least 1,500 people surrounded the jail. The doors were battered down, Schell taken to a tree in the court house yard, a rope placed about his neck and over a convenient limb, and after a few minutes time being given the wretch for remarks, he was swung into eternity.

Sources

• "History of Logan County and Ohio," 1880, p. 443, 806.