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Story of Robert Prager. The German-American who was lynched during Word War 1.
Robert Paul Prager (February 28, 1888 – April 5, 1918) was a German immigrant who was lynched in the United States during World War I as a result of anti-German sentiment. He had worked as a baker in southern Illinois and then as a laborer in a coal mine, settling in Collinsville, a center of mining. At a time of rising anti-German sentiment, he was rejected for membership in the Maryville, Illinois local of the United Mine Workers of America. Afterward he angered area mine workers by posting copies of his letter around town that complained of his rejection and criticized the local president.
A mob of 200 to 300 men forced Prager from his home in Collinsville, making him walk barefoot and wrapped in an American flag along Main Street, where they beat and harassed him. The police took him into custody, but the mob gained control again, taking him from the Collinsville City Hall and accusing Mayor John H. Siegel of being pro-German. Failing to find tar in order to tar and feather Prager, as the workers had done to other victims, leaders of the mob used a rope and hanged him to death at a prominent bluff outside town.
Eleven men were tried for Prager's murder but all were acquitted. Rumors were that Prager held socialist beliefs, which were considered suspect at the time.[1] Men in the mob claimed he was planning to blow up the coal mine, but there was no evidence against him and he had not been charged with any crime.
The mob forced Prager to walk west on Main Street and the St. Louis Road, beating and harassing him. He had to sing patriotic songs and kiss the flag. When the mob arrived at the top of Bluff Hill, on the St. Louis Road overlooking St. Louis, some men took a car to get tar from a nearby streetcar stop. They intended to tar and feather Prager, as they had other targets of their wrath. But the men returned, not having been able to find any tar. One of the two men to find Prager at city hall, 28-year-old Joe Reigel, who was also of German ancestry, had taken a leading role since then.[5] He found a length of manila rope in one of the cars, and announced that Prager should hang. Other men were initially reluctant, but no one spoke out in the crowd.[2]
Prager was allowed to write a last note to his parents in Dresden, Germany:
Dear Parents I must on this, the 4th day of April, 1918, die. Please pray for me, my dear parents.[6]
He was hanged in front of a mob of 100 to 200 people, mostly men, at about 12:30 am on April 5, 1918.[6][5]Investigation
Prager's death was first investigated by Madison County Coroner Roy Lowe. His Coroner's Jury interviewed dozens of witnesses and on April 11 charged five men with murder. They were: Joe Riegel, 28; Wesley Beaver, 26; Richard Dukes, 22; William Brockmeier, 41; and Enid Elmore, 21.
Riegel gave a remarkably candid confession[citation needed] to the Coroner's Jury about his role in the night's events. He also gave a full account to a reporter from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.[citation needed]
A grand jury for Madison County, Illinois, was convened to hear testimony in the case. On April 25 they indicted the five men previously charged, and seven others for the murder of Prager. Additional suspects included: Charles Cranmer, 20; James DeMatties, 18; Frank Flannery, 19; Calvin Gilmore, 44; John Hallworth, 43; and Cecil Larremore, 17. The twelfth man to be indicted, George Davis, was never further identified, or located. He was not prosecuted.[2]
The grand jury also indicted four Collinsville police officers for omission of duty and nonfeasance, for their failure to protect Prager from the mob. He had not been charged with any crime when taken into custody.
Source: Wikipedia Robert Prager.
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Originally Posted by Adrianv2
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