Robert Prager
Robert Paul Prager was a German-born coal miner who had taken out his first papers and applied for full U.S. citizenship, and before he died he wrote to his parents in Dresden. On April 4 or 5, 1918, police in Collinsville, Illinois took him into custody and hid him in the city hall basement, but a mob of about 350 men pushed past the authorities, dragged him out and hanged him from a tree west of town, according to press accounts, while the mayor's pleas were ignored. The mayor said he found no evidence that Prager was disloyal. Eleven men were tried for murder in connection with his death, and a jury acquitted all of them on June 1, 1918.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. Coroner Lowe and news reports say a mob broke into the Collinsville jail, overpowered the lone guard, dragged him out and hanged him, and Governor Lowden called the killing lawless.
Reported by: Coroner Lowe (medical examiner or coroner); news reports; Governor Frank O. Lowden; Madison County court trial of the eleven men charged (court).
Sources (13)
- Alexandria Gazette, April 5, 1918, page 1
- Evening Journal, April 5, 1918, page 16
- The Washington Times, April 5, 1918, page 1
- The Topeka State Journal, April 5, 1918, page 2
- Rock Island Argus, April 8, 1918, page 7
- The Daily Journal, April 8, 1918, page 1
- The Monroe Journal, April 9, 1918, page 7
- The Frontier, April 11, 1918, page 7
- Richmond Planet, April 13, 1918, page 4
- The Daily Journal, May 28, 1918, page 6
- The Birmingham Age-Herald, June 2, 1918, page 2
- Springfield Weekly Republican, June 6, 1918, page 14
- Springfield Weekly Republican, June 6, 1918, page 3