Sheriff Hangs His Friend

Paragould, Ark, June 10,---- Mart V. Vowell, an aged white man, was hanged here for murder of W. F. Lovejoy. Under laws of Arkansas a hanging may be had any time between noon and 6 o'clock p. m. Vowell was a personal friend of the sheriff and a postponement was made until a few minutes of 6 o'clock in the hope of a stay of execution from Governor Davis. During the day many friends of Vowell besieged Governor Davis' office at Little Rock, beseeching him to intervene, and it was so close as to preclude all hope of reprieve, that the sheriff sprung the trap.

FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 1904
Transcribed by: Sandy Hardin