Volume 13 , Issue 47

Girl Victim Tells Jury full Story of "Tar Party" (1911)

Have you ever heard of the August 1911 "Tar Party" where Miss Mary Chamberlain gave details before a jury of a trap set by masked assailants where Miss Chamberlain was abducted and tarred by the mask men?

"On November 21, 1911, in Lincoln Centere, Kansas, in a crowded court room Miss Mary Chamberlain, young and pretty, appeared before Judge Glover and related the events of the night of August 7, 1911, when she was tarred by masked men.

"Except for an occasional break in her voice, a slight tightening of her lips, as she repeated the details of the outrage, no one would have guessed she was relating her own experiences. Now and then a nervous twitching of her hands, an averted glance which seemed to try to avoid the curious gaze from the packed court room, betrayed the feeling that she strove to conceal.

"Once, when describing the manner in which her clothes were torn from her, she seemed in danger of breaking down. Grasping the rail of the witness box, her eyes fixed on her father and mother, she told of her feelings as the tar splashed against her skin. Miss Chamberlain was asked, "Why didn't you call for help?"

Miss Chamaberlain replied, "I did call. I screamed. But Ricord, my escort, had hidden in the bushes and did not appear until it was all over."

"Miss Chamberlain told how Edward Ricord, the village Beau Brummel, insisted that she accompany him; of his strange manner as they neared the rendezvous; of the sudden appearance of masked men who pointed a "gun" -- afterward discovered to be a toy pistol -- at the buggy; of her appeal to Ricord and his hasty retreat into the bushes; of being dragged to a huge bonfire, where three men tore off her clothing from her waist down and held her prostrate while the sticky mass was applied.

Miss Chamberlain continued, "When it was all over they left me and Ricord came from his hiding place, helped me into my clothes and, with the tar dripping from me, we drove to my home."

"The faces of the jurors, all but two of whom are married, hardened and expressions of pity for the witness and anger at the defendants were heard from all parts of the court-room.

"The day's session opened with the examination of Ricord, who had previously confessed having been hired to lure the girl to the place where she was to be tarred."   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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