On January 22, 1875, a group of vigilantes made their way to Elijah Gibbs' cabin on Gas Creek with the intention of hanging Gibbs for the murder of George Herrington. Gibbs had already been tried and acquitted of the murder charge, however, the vigilantes still believed he was the guilty party.
The vigilantes arrived at Gibbs' cabin around midnight and demanded that Gibbs come out. When Gibbs didn't do as requested, some of the men started piling brush up against the door to burn Gibbs out; not caring that Gibbs family - his pregnant wife and three children - along with a neighbor and her child were in the cabin. Gibbs fired the first shot at Sam Boon, who had lit a match to set the fire, hitting him in the chest. He continued firing, hitting two men in the legs. As the men fell, the shotgun belonging to one of the men went off and hit David Boon, the brother of Sam. Finley Kane (reportedly an uncle of Sam and David) was also shot.
The vigilantes arrived at Gibbs' cabin around midnight and demanded that Gibbs come out. When Gibbs didn't do as requested, some of the men started piling brush up against the door to burn Gibbs out; not caring that Gibbs family - his pregnant wife and three children - along with a neighbor and her child were in the cabin. Gibbs fired the first shot at Sam Boon, who had lit a match to set the fire, hitting him in the chest. He continued firing, hitting two men in the legs. As the men fell, the shotgun belonging to one of the men went off and hit David Boon, the brother of Sam. Finley Kane (reportedly an uncle of Sam and David) was also shot.
Elijah Gibbs turned himself into the Justice of Peace and a trial was held the next morning with Wilburn Christison acting as Gibbs' defense lawyer. Gibbs was found to have acted in self-defense and he left the area immediately.
The wounded men were taken to William Kraft's home where David Boon (age 31) died January 23, Sam Boon died January 24 (age 30), and Finley Kane died January 25. The three men were buried in the Droney Pasture cemetery, but were later moved to the Poncha Springs Cemetery where this picture was taken. Each man has a Civil War veterans marker. Sam and David served together in Company H of the 102nd Ohio Infantry and Finley Kane served in Company I of the 29th Ohio Infantry.
For more information about the Lake County War, read this post. Also click on the Lake County War label.
If you are related to anyone in the Lake County War or if you have information about it, please contact me at GayleGresham@gmail.com
The wounded men were taken to William Kraft's home where David Boon (age 31) died January 23, Sam Boon died January 24 (age 30), and Finley Kane died January 25. The three men were buried in the Droney Pasture cemetery, but were later moved to the Poncha Springs Cemetery where this picture was taken. Each man has a Civil War veterans marker. Sam and David served together in Company H of the 102nd Ohio Infantry and Finley Kane served in Company I of the 29th Ohio Infantry.
For more information about the Lake County War, read this post. Also click on the Lake County War label.
If you are related to anyone in the Lake County War or if you have information about it, please contact me at GayleGresham@gmail.com
7 comments:
Sam Boon's widow, Molly Gibson Boon, moved back to Missouri and remarried. The US government rejected her application for a widow's pension in which she accurately described Sam having died of a gunshot wound but she implied in the application that it occurred during his Civil War service. They sent investigators out to interview people and discovered the truth, thus the rejected application.
Loved the cemetery blog post here. I found your blog after my sister-in-law met you in Loveland. I have always been interested in CO., WY.,NE., and SD history having grown up in western NE. Will follow your blog and hope to meet one day!
Cheri Hopkins, Alliance, Ne.
http://yougogenealogygirls.blogspot.com/
http://thoseoldmemories.blogspot.com/
Vickie, thanks for sharing about Sam Boon's widow. How interesting! I love being in contact with you and other relatives of people in the stories I'm researching.
Hi Cheri! Glad you've enjoyed my blog. I've enjoyed keeping up with you and Ruby on your blogs. It was great to meet Ruby. And now it's great to meet you!
Just found this blog and I must say this is some great info I enjoyed reading through this post especially!
Elijah Gibbs moved to Ukiah, Oregon with the family of Mary Gilliland, whose father was Rev. John Gilliland, my ancestor. If you run across any information relating to John, I'd love to know. We haven't been able to positively identify his parents. I love your blog, by the way.
Ann Marie (Gilliland) Hardin
Hi Anne Marie! I haven't run across John Gilliland's parents either, but I'll keep an eye out for them.
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