Lynching of Carl Etherington

On the night of July 8, 1908, Carl Etherington was lynched in Licking County, Ohio, following an investigation into a saloon. Etherington was part of an anti-saloon league that was hired to make sure saloons were following the county's prohibition on alcohol. On July 8, his group was hired to check a saloon. When they arrived at the establishment, the scene had already turned violent and had police presence. In the ensuing chaos, Etherington shot and killed William Howard, lead to his arrest. Later that night, a mob broke into Etherington's cell at the jail and killed him.

Background

In 1908, the Rose County Local Option Act was passed which stopped separate counties from making their own laws about the sales of alcoholic beverages. More specifically, in Licking County voters voted against alcohol sales but Newark supported these sales. Newark was the first to oppose the act which lead to riots. Newark was in an under the table deal with the mayor and police officers to sell alcohol by charging the bar owners $10 a week. The election was conducted in January 1909 and Licking County cast their votes on choosing to go wet or dry. While 708 voted to go dry in Licking County, Newark tallied that by having 1557 voting to go wet.

Event

During this time there were anti-saloon leagues that wanted alcohol prohibited. Members of anti-saloon leagues were hired by different counties to check if the saloons were violating the Rose County Local Act. One of the members was a Granville deputy marshall named Carl Etherington.

On the night of the lynching, Licking County hired Etherington's team to look into and raid nearby saloons that might have been breaking the law. Etherington came upon a heated altercation during one raid. The police tried to protect the agents by ordering them to leave the scene and arresting the other members for their actions. But, Carl  was not one of the ones arrested but knew he needed to escape the scene. He was unable to successfully escape because when passing William Howard’s saloon he was attacked and beaten by Howard. A large mob gathered where they beat Etherington until he shot and killed William Howard in defense. As an outcome of the event, Etherington was arrested and was held in the Licking County prison. Police took Etherington away while trying to stop the mob from getting into the jail.

Etherington spent his last moments praying and writing to his parents before he tried to commit suicide. He did this by locking his head in his coat and setting fire to it but this attempt was unsuccessful.At 8:15 the crowd broke into the jail Etherington was incarcerated in. They kicked Etherington and beat him using a hammer before dragging him out of jail and taking him to the south east corner of downtown's square. At 10:35 pm they tied a rope around his neck and hung him from a telephone pole. According to reports, Etherington's last words were "Tell my mother that I died trying to do my duty".

Aftermath and impact

After the event, the Ohio Anti-Saloon League argued that Newark’s Public Officials, including Mayor Herbert Atherton, were responsible and should have protected the city. The Ohio Anti-Saloon League also argued for increased enforcement. They believed that the lynching could have been prevented if Atherton had enforced more protection officials.

The lynching brought negative press to Ohio due to Carl Etherington's status as a white man working to enforce the law. The Ohio governor at the time removed the mayor of Newark, and the Ohio attorney general announced that anyone who supported the mob would be tried for the support of the murder. After this announcement, they found thirty-nine indictments and fifteen were charged with first degree murder. Most of the people who were charged with murder received pardons.

A plaque dedicated to Etherington was erected outside the door of the Licking County Jail. The Licking County governmental preservation society has honored July 8 as Carl Etherington day.