Portage County Historical Society

Lynching

From the Stevens Point Journal May 19, 1992
Portage County's Only Lynching
by
SUSAN ALLEN
of the Journal

In its 150 years, Portage County has experienced only one lynching and has seen only one law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty both occurring in related events that happened within eight days of each other.

Shortly after noon on Oct. 11, 1875, Sheriff Joseph Baker was shot by one of the Courtwright brothers, Isiah or Amos, at a farm at the intersection of highways J and D in the town of Buena Vista. Baker was called to the scene to evict the Courtwrights from the farm they had lost because of failure to pay debts.

Evidently, Amos Courtwright and a man named Luther Hanchett, a Plover lawyer, had owned a sawmill together, but their partnership dissolved in 1856. Courtwright was to retain possession of the mill providing that he pay all of the mill’s debts and give an additional $2,000 to Hanchett.

When Courtwright didn’t pay, Hanchetts heirs - for Hanchett had died by then - sued to retain the farm. A court ordered the farm to be sold and the money applied to Courtwright’s debt. Hanchett’s lawyer, James Raymond, became owner of the land and rented it to L. W. Richardson, who became the victim of a few of the Courtwright’s shenanigans.

At one time, Richardson’s horses were stolen and while he was out looking for them, the Courtwrights had moved back into the house. On another occasion, Richardson returned from a trip to find the Courtwrights living in his home.

Richardson called Sheriff Baker, who at first tried to negotiate with the Courtwrights. When he stepped onto the land, Baker was shot in the chest. The event was witnessed by about 40 neighbors whom Baker had called to form a posse.

The posse returned fire and the sheriff ordered his men to set fire to the farmhouse. Although the Courtwrights and their families escaped, they were later found and thrown in jail. The sheriff died the next day from his injuries.

Angry with the Courtwrights, a crowd had tried unsuccessfully at least once during the following week to break into the jail and lynch the two brothers. On the second time, after threatening a guard, the mob succeeded in entering the jail.

The Courtwrights put up a fight, but lost. Amos Courtwright’s hat was found on the floor riddled with cuts, along with blood and locks of hair. A mob of 40 people attacked the jail that night and succeeded in its mission in 10 minutes. It took the two men to what is now the site of the Portage County Health Care Center at the intersection of Water Street and Whiting Avenue.

The crowd put ropes around their necks, while tying one end around a pine tree, and then pushed the two men out of the wagon that had brought them there. The bodies were left there overnight and hundreds of people came to see them. Eventually they were cut down and the brothers were buried side-by-side in the same grave at the Plover Cemetery.

No evidence was ever found to identify any members of the mob or their origins.