Baldknobbers Hanging
(Front)
On this approximate spot on May 10, 1889 three members of the Baldknobbers were hanged for murder.
The name came from the Bald Knob hilltops on which the Taney County group met.
After the Civil War justice on the area was minimal. In the beginning the Baldknobbers were a group of men dedicated to bring law and order back to the area. While starting out to punish criminals, they evenutally harmed innocent people, culminating on the deaths of two members of the Edens and Greene families in Oldfield.
After extensive trials, four Baldknobbers were sentenced to death. Before the hanging one member escaped jail and was never recaptured.
It was expected that the Governor would commute the sentences of the remaining three. This did not happen and the executions were carried out. This ended the reign of Baldknobber justice in the Ozarks.
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"This marker is not to commemorate the violent acts resulting in many deaths, including those hanged here. It has been erected so that we will remember what happened, so it does not happen again. We would like to forget this part of our past, but must not."
Marker is on 2nd Street south of Elm Street, on the left when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
