air was filled with threats of vengeance against [the Driscolls],nand nothing but the lives of the murderous gang would pay thenpenalty. . . . Monday afternoon Rockford was more like andeserted village, than a bustling, busy little town. Every mannthat could go, went—all determined to avenge Campbell’sndeath.” John Driscoll was found at his son David’s homenand was arrested and jailed in nearby Oregon City. Two othernDriscoll boys, William and Pierce, were arrested by Rockfordnregulators and held at John Campbell’s home. David andnTaylor Driscoll were sought but never found.nAs soon it was sufficiently light on Monday morning, Campbell’snfriends and neighbors began searching for evidence thatnwould help to identify his murderers, and they found it. Tracksnaround Campbell’s bam led directly to David Driscoll’s stable,nand a trail of broken horseshoe prints matched perfectly withnthe broken shoe on one of his father’s horses. The Ogle Countynsheriff then arrested John Driscoll “on suspicion of being annaccessory to the murder of John Campbell.” The next day angroup of White Rock regulators raided the county jail and,ndespite the sheriff’s protests, seized John Driscoll. They hurriednhim across the river to nearby Washington Grove, wherenthey rendezvoused with the regulators holding Driscoll’s sons.nFive hundred enraged citizens had gathered along GrovenCreek in Washington Grove by the time the regulators andntheir prisoners finally arrived. Present were farmers, preachers,njudges, lawyers, doctors, mayors, sheriffs, and shopkeepers fromnall across northem Illinois. And contrary to the prototypical Hollywoodnscene—of the ravenous mob that seizes the prisonernand attempts to lynch him from the nearest tree—the eventsnthat followed were slow and methodical; there would be nothingnrash or frenzied about the largest “vigilante trial” innAmerican history. ^nE. S. Leland, an attorney from Ottawa, Illinois, acted as judgenof the proceedings. He ordered the 120 regulators present tonform a circle near a large oak tree and sat the lawyers and witnessesnalongside the accused —John and William E)riscoll; Piercenhad been released—in the center of the circle. James Marsh,nan attorney from Rockford, represented the Driscolls, and anRockford attorney named Charles Lattimer represented “thenpeople.” The defense was also given a chance to object to anynof the members of the “jury”—the 120 regulators present—nand Leland agreed to remove nine of them.nJudge Leland began by asking William Driscoll whether henhad ever instructed his brother David, who had fled the statenafter the murder, to kill Captain.Campbell. He said he had not.nNumerous witnesses then testified against him, includingnan Ogle County citizen who claimed to have heard the accusednnot only give David Driscoll the order to murder Campbell butnalso instructions as to how to go about it. William then said,n”I remember [giving the order to murder Campbell] but onlyndid it in jest.” The judge and jury—the HI regulators—nwere not amused. “You will find that jesting away good men’snlives is a serious matter, and that it will not be tolerated in thisncommunity,” replied Judge Leland.nJohn Driscoll was similarly questioned and, by all accounts,ngiven more than a fair chance to plead his case, but he offerednnone. Leland then put the question to the jury. “What say youngentlemen, guilty or not guilty?” “Guilty,” came the regulators’nunanimous response. As accomplices to the crime of murderingnCaptain Campbell, both men were sentenced to be hanged.nNeither man protested the sentence, but both pleaded to benshot and not “hanged like dogs.” The regulators voted and thenchange was allowed. The Driscolls were given an hour tonprepare for death, during which two ministers in the crowdnagreed to pray with the Driscolls and to listen to confessions.nWilliam confessed to having murdered at least five men,nand prayed for forgiveness. John Driscoll refused all prayers andnremained quietly defiant throughout the ordeal.nThen, just before the executions were to begin, a few membersnof the crowd began to question the legitimacy of thentrial arid to plea for the Driscolls to be turned over to propernlaw enforcement officials. Coming quickly to the vigilantes’ndefense, Lattimer made a moving, passionate address that reportedlyn”had the effect of stilling the clamors of those who weren’weak-kneed.'” “The people were justified in taking the coursenthey had,” he argued, because “their safety demanded it.”nFive hundred spectators stood by as 111 regulators shoulderednguns and filed into a single line. John Driscoll wasnmade to kneel ten paces in front of half the assembled men,nhis son William the other half. Stout and strongly built, withnheavy shaggy eyebrows and coarse gray hair, the 60-plus-yearoldnfather remained still and silent as his eyes were blindfoldednand his arms pinned behind him. A moment later every loadedngun but one successfully emptied its volley. Driscoll’s headnwas shattered beyond recognition. The other half of the linenthen fired, and within seconds Driscoll’s son also lay dead. Theirnuncovered bodies were buried side-by-side in a single, shallowngrave.nThe vigilantes’ actions clearly represented the will of the RocknRiver community, but support was not unanimous. Amongnthose who objected to regulator activity was Philander Knappen,neditor of the recently founded Rockford Star. In an editorialndated two days after the executions, Knappen argued thatnthe vigilantes’ time would have been better spent in buildingnstronger jails, and added: “If two or three hundred citizens arento assume the administration of lynch law in the face and eyesnof the laws of the land, we shall soon have a fearful state ofnthings, and where, we ask, will it end if mob law is to supersedenthe civil law? If it is tolerated, no man’s life or property is safe.”nThe community was outraged. It believed it had been forcedninto drastic action because of drastic circumstances, that thenlocal newspaper should not denounce what the community hadnclearly sanctioned, and that it was a vulgar insult to imply thatnthe regulators had come into existence for plunder or profit andnnot for the reestablishment of the sanctity of life and property.nA few nights after the controversial editorial appeared, the Star’snoffice was thoroughly ransacked. Type, copy, and ink were strewnnacross the room and “the entire office was reduced to a pile ofnmins.” The perpetrators of the crime were never identified. Devastatednby the incident, Knappen sold the newspaper.nIn September 1841 friends of the Driscolls arranged for then111 regulators involved in the executions to be indicted in OglenCounty on murder charges. The case was cumbersomely entitled:n”The People v. Jonathan W. Jenkins, Seth H. King, GeorgenD. Johnson, Commodore P. Bridge…” Not surprisingly, afternthe regulators entered a plea of not guilty, most of the time spentnin the disposition of the trial was consumed in calling the namesnof the defendants. But once the judge had reminded thenjury that it would be impossible for all 111 men to be guilty ofnmurder—because only half of the guns used in the executionsnwere actually loaded, and no one knew which ones—events camento a swift close. Without even adjouming for consultation, thenjury returned its verdict: “Not guilty.” <£>nnnMAY 1992/25n