A Lynching in Asotin

Nine-year-old Clifford Aplington became "man-of-the-house", along with his brother William, who was two years older, when their father died in a Colorado silver-mining accident in 1897. Mining was dangerous, and their father had made it clear to the boys that they would be in charge of the family's safety if anything happened to him. Mother had no desire to stay in Colorado after father died. She enlisted the assistance of her late husband's brother, Nathan Aplington, who had homesteaded near Joseph Creek in northeastern Oregon. He helped her find some land and the family set about farming in the rugged countryside. Though Uncle Nate was now nearby, the boys were determined to do whatever was necessary to shield their mother and older sisters from harm.

Some of the Aplington family in Oregon, 1906. Cliff is on the far left.

Cliff loved being outdoors and was often found riding his horse across the hills near their farm. Whenever possible, he volunteered to run errands for his mother to Anatone, the nearest town of decent size. It was a journey of several miles into Washington state and, his favorite part, it required crossing the Grande Ronde river by ferry. Steep, rocky hillsides with few trees for shade or wind-break made the trip an arduous one in any season.  Seated proudly on his horse, always on the lookout for danger, Cliff became a common sight along the road to town and back. By 1900, his sisters Claire and Rena, along with their husbands, had homes near Anatone. This provided the rough and ready trail-rider yet another excuse to head north. One Sunday, in the summer of 1903, as he had countless times in the past, Cliff, now 14, was on the road to Anatone.  He was the last witness to see young Mabel Richards alive.

On the road to Anatone. The photo was taken in 2002. 

"She was walking along the road and I was going at a good fast gallop and she got out of the way to let me pass," he began. "I next saw her today," he paused, remembering the horrible sight of the dead girl. Cliff was being questioned by the Asotin County Coroner after the discovery of Mabel's body. He swallowed and went on, "quite a piece from where I saw her yesterday, and her body was lying along the same road, a short distance in the woods."

The Spokane Press ( Spokane, Washington) - Tuesday, Aug. 4, 1903, Pg. 4. Clipped from Newspapers.com.

Mabel, the daughter of Sheriff R. H. Richards, was heading to Sunday School in Anatone when the attack occurred. A local man named Hamilton admitted to the coroner that he had met Mabel on the road. "I jumped down off my horse and hugged and kissed her," he said. He refused to give further details. He was taken to Asotin and placed in the County Jail. News of the brutal murder spread quickly. In an interview with the Lewiston Tribune from the jail cell, the man told a reporter the details of his crime. News of his confession brought people from nearby communities into the streets of Asotin and a crowd grew to more than six hundred people. The girl's lifeless body and the club used to kill her were witnessed by the throng and mob fever steadily increased. There was soon talk of a lynching.

This was not the first brutal attack of a young girl in the area. In 1896, a 17-year-old girl was robbed and violated just outside of Asotin. Her statement to the local authorities led to the arrest of a half-breed Nez Perce man. After she positively identified her assailant, thirty men forcefully took the keys from the jailer, removed the man from his cell, and, after returning the keys to the jailer, hung him in the yard outside of the jail. Now, seven years later, the local vigilantes were preparing a noose for a murderer.

On the night of August 5, 1903, a large crowd gathered in Anatone. In the middle of the night, more than one hundred men donned masks and rode their horses down the hill to Asotin. They overpowered the jail guards and dragged the attacker out of his cell and down the street. After confessing his crime to the crowd, Mr. Hamilton was hung until he was dead. The men were all masked, so it's not known if young Clifford or any of his family members participated. The coroner's inquest concluded that the man was killed by "persons unknown".

The road from Anatone to Asotin.

The view of Asotin coming in from Anatone.

The population of Anatone was roughly 300 people at the turn of the century, and the precinct covered a wide area of land. It is very possible that an Aplington relative was a part of the lynch mob that dark August night. Because of Clifford's testimony, it's certain that he was in the Asotin crowd that gathered after the girl's death with other family members who would have accompanied him. This atrocity happened to a child in their community and the outrage was palpable. Though the murderer would have faced punishment by law, to these men, it was much too personal. Like young Clifford, they felt responsible for the safety of their families and, therefore, justified in their actions.

Cliff Aplington, near Asotin, WA about 1920.

After serving his country in the first World War, Cliff married and started a family of his own. He and his wife had four daughters. He remained fiercely protective of them until his death in 1965.

All photos courtesy of my cousin Rene Rodgers.

Elam Ethan Allen (1868-1951)

Elam Ethan Allen and Katherine Irene Aplington,
1898 wedding photo, courtesy of Rene Rodgers.

Elam Ethan Allen, my great-grandfather on my dad’s maternal line, led a very interesting life. Several years ago my cousin, Rene Rodgers, passed an old family history book to me. I don’t think I could write it any better so will instead share a few pages of that old book.

“A Narrative of Events in the Lives of the Descendants of William Allen”,

Issued November, 1957 by
Ethel E. Allen, Clan Historian
1286 Elm Street, N.W., Salem, Oregon
Assisted by
Glen and Helen Allen
10 Overlake Court, Oakland, California
First issue, August 1947

Excerpt, Pages 45-48

Page 45                                   

ELAM ETHAN ALLEN, fourth and last child of James Miller and Sarah E. (Butler) Allen

Born October 22, 1868; died July 7, 1951
Elam was born on the Butler Donation Land Claim at Buena Vista, Oregon
Married Katherine Irene (“Rena”) Aplington on December 21, 1898, at Asotin,
Asotin County, Washington. Katherine’s sister, Retta, was second wife of
John Lucas Allen
Katherine was born May 2, 1880, at Almena, Kansas; died January 7, 1951
Both Elam and Katherine are buried in Forest Lawn, Seattle.

                                                                                           

(5) Lois Lee Allen  Born August 21, 1900
(5) Inez Rhea Allen  Born March 24, 1902
(5) Elam Cecil Allen  Born December 14, 1904
(5) Felma Estell Allen   Born September 21, 1906
(5) Edna Ernestine Allen   Born September 16, 1908
(5) Mabel Elizabeth Allen   Born February 2, 1910        Died  July 1910
(5) Laura Beryl Allen  Born July 26, 1911
(5) Isaac Lawson Allen   Born  June 1, 1913
(5) Joyce Wilma Allen   Born May 14, 1915
(5) Helen Lucille Pauline Allen  Born April 2, 1918

Elam’s father, James Miller Allen, had crossed the plains by ox team. (See life of James Miller Allen, p. 19) In 1871 Elam moved with his family to Prineville. They built a log house and also a flour mill, which latter is still standing. His father was school director and Justice of the Peace and often took the place of parson by reading the Scriptures on Sunday mornings. Tragedy came to the family in the death of Elam’s mother soon after they moved to Prineville. When Elam was about eight years old, his family moved to Fifteen-Mile Creek near The Dalles, where they had a farm and mill. They moved later to Dufur then Boyd where they built and operated flour mills.

            One of his duties as a boy was to drive to the hills for the winter’s wood. He was accompanied by his older brothers and since there was an Indian uprising, the trip was fraught with danger and adventure. Adventure was to be the key word of his life and coupled with a marvelous memory for people, events, and places, he was able all his life to keep everyone about him entertained with witty and interesting accounts of episodes and events in his life.

            At sixteen, he hired out as a sheep shearer at six cents a head. He sheared twenty the first day but was shearing sixty-five by the end of the season and also was getting eight cents per head. In 1887 his father died, so following the next harvest Elam went to Pendleton, Oregon, to live with his half-sister, Nancy Crawford, where he went to work in a harness shop. On the side he broke horses at $5.00 a head.

Page 46

 In 1885, he went to Joseph Creek in Asotin County, Washington. With his brother-in-law, Jim Bradley (Pauline Jane Allen’s husband), he went into the cattle business. Joseph Creek was primitive country and he soon felt there would be more opportunity if he sold to Bradley and went into business for himself. Elam filed on land for himself and proved up under one of the last remaining preemption claims in the State of Washington. His claim was on the Snake River and he conceived the idea of bringing calves in by boat. This proved to be a workable idea and he began to prosper. In winter he carried mail from Anatone to Bly, Washington, on horseback. Elam sold his claim to Mr. Greene and bought the Bolton place. At about this time he was married to Katherine Irene Aplington, who had moved with her widowed mother and brothers and sisters from Colorado. He met “Rena” through her uncle, Nathan Aplington, whom Elam had saved from drowning in the Snake River. He not only saved Nathan from drowning but from freezing to death by making him and the two men with Nathan run all the way to the nearest Indian camp of the Chief Joseph tribe, and got help from the Indians in getting them warm and dry again. Nathan never forgot this and became one of Elam’s closest friends.

            Three children were born to Elam and Rena while they lived on the Snake River ranch and as they grew to school age the decision was made to move to a more civilized part of the county. Consequently, they sold out and purchased a harness shop in Anatone, where they built a home. There was plenty of business in the shop. Elam’s brother, Isaac, came out from the East and went into the business with him. The rude awakening came when it was discovered that thousands of dollars were on the books, but people wouldn’t or couldn’t pay. Elam made the discovery then that business involving credit was not for him. He trusted everyone and could not turn down anyone with a hard-luck story. He sold the harness shop and with Isaac moved to the Yakima Valley. For this move they rigged up two covered wagons and drove twenty head of horses and some cattle, which they owned. Other horses pulled the wagons containing the household effects. They swam the livestock across the Columbia River and ferried the wagons. Elam always made the camp bread at the evening stops. This he loved to do by mixing it in the top of the sack of flour.

            One more child had been born to the family at Anatone. In 1908, the Elam Allen family bought a ranch at Outlook in the Yakima Valley and lived there fourteen years. Here the remaining six children and the first grandchild were born.

            On this ranch, hay, potatoes, and livestock were raised. Elam kept breeding stock and doctored all the sick animals for miles around, as well as raising bumper crops of potatoes. He owned good modern machinery and was in great demand for crop harvesting. He employed Indians from the Yakima tribe at Wapato to harvest the potato and sugarbeet crops. He was about the only man who could get along with the Indians and get work out of them, so his crew was also in demand as long as he was the boss. He spoke their language and understood them and they often came to visit during other seasons of the year. The Indians always ate with the family on these visits and often came to use Rena’s sewing machine.

            Elam was referred to as “Spud” Allen or “Potato King” and in 1922 was awarded the Northern Pacific Railway’s potato medal. At the time of his award the family lived at Benton City, but in 1928 moved to Selah, Washington, where Elam worked as Supervisor on a hop ranch.

            After the children were all in school, Rena decided to pursue a vocation she had always liked, that of nursing. She went to a local doctor and through him got a correspondence course in practical nursing. The doctor helped her and soon put her to work on cases under him. She was a born nurse. Everyone loved her. There were always more jobs than she could take. She followed this profession for seven years and finally illness forced her to stop.

            Elam had been making exploratory trips to Oregon. His half-brother had told him how to locate the old trail their father, James Miller Allen, and other immigrants had followed after becoming lost. With his son, Elam Cecil, and a

Page 47

 son-in-law, Guy Michael, he found the buried land marks for which he sought. One of those was an ox-yoke still intact but weather-beaten.

            Elam also went to the Joseph Creek country to check up on a copper mining claim he had filed on years before. This claim probably would be valuable if transportation were available for the ore.

            In 1939 Elam and Rena moved to southwest Seattle to be nearer the majority of their children. Here they built a new home and retired from work, except to care for their beautiful flowers and garden. Elam developed a hobby of writing verses, cowboy songs, short stories, and spent some time on the story of his life.

            He enjoyed telling the reunion groups that he had the largest family of any one present – ten children, twenty-seven grandchildren and thirty-three great grandchildren;

            He passed away in his sleep at his home in Seattle. He was Honorary President of the Allen Clan 1949 and 1950.

- - - -

This poem was written to Lee Niles when he was planning a hunting trip:

Rifle Packin' Daddy

Daddy’s gone a hunting,

You should hear the kiddies cheer,

For all of them are positive

 That Dad will get his deer.

    Mother’s looking out the window,

     The kids can hardly wait,

       For rifle packin’ daddy

         Is half an hour late.

 Hope he doesn’t disappoint us,

     For we are low on points.

    We need a tender juicy steak

       To limber up our joints.

     Just in case he has no luck

      In bringing home the stew

     We’ll send pistol packin’ mamma,

             And see what she can do.  ----

                                     Elam Ethan Allen

THE MISSING LINK

Oft times when writing poetry

  I think with all my might

To find the one word needed

To make it sound just right.

  

Sometimes I write it many times

And think and think and think,

Then finally it comes to me,

The long lost missing link.

 It’s when I go to bed at night,

And lie there seeking slumber,

New ideas pop into my head,

So out of bed I lumber.

Page 48

And when I switch on the light

And make an awful clatter,

I hear a voice calling me,

“What in the world’s the matter?”

“Nothing, dear,” I answer back,

As I make the paper rattle,

“I’ve something preying on my mind

With which I have to battle.”

Then I write the darned thing down,

And get back to bed contented,

And feel like I have written all

That ever was invented. –

                      Elam Ethan Allen, Published in THE MUSE of 1943, (An anthology of poetry)

            Lineage:

(1)   William and Rebecca (Stevens) Allen

(2)   Isaac and Margaret (Miller) Allen

(3)   James Miller and (2) Sarah Elizabeth (Butler) Allen

(4)   Elam Ethan and Katherine (Aplington) Allen

                                                                       

                                                           

Elam Allen, 1950, courtesy of Rene Rodgers

The book was put together by Ethel E. Allen with information gathered from members of the Allen clan who regularly attended reunions in Oregon. It's not known if Elam himself is the one who submitted the information from the excerpt above, but I think he probably did. A disclaimer at the beginning of the volume asks family members to submit corrections for any errors or omissions they should find. As this is the second printing of the volume, it is likely such a disclaimer was printed in the first printing and some corrections have already been addressed in this printing. The pages are all hand typed and total 203, including an index, and are assembled with dividers for the descendants of each of the children of William Allen (1759-1815) and Rebecca Stevens (1768-1855) in a three ring binder. This book is a real treasure.