Laura Jane Harvey Murder: Part Seven

Two months after the body of George Lawrence was found and seven months after the body of Laura Harvey was found in the river, after two months of near silence, the newspaper posted the following article.

In 1855, one Mayberry was hung by a mob in Wisconsin, for the murder of a man named Alger. Subsequent developments have given rise to the horrible suspicion that Mayberry was innocent, as he protested to the last. It is now charged that Lant McComb, who seduced and murdered Laura Harvey, some months since, was also guilty of the murder of Alger. - Ex.

Although five years earlier than the murder of Laura Harvey, because it may have involved Lant McComb, it was a rabbit hole I had to go down. As with the Harvey case, I did a lot of digging for old newspaper clippings and found quite a few of them but eventually I came across the trial transcripts which told a more complete story than the one by the anonymous Mr. Ex. 

David F. Mayberry, a former Mormon, was a known horse thief for which he served seven years in prison and was a cooper, a trade which he learned in prison. At the time of the murder he was convicted for, he was working for John McComb, Lant McComb's father. Word reached the McComb farm that Andrew Alger had recently sold a raft of lumber in nearby Rockford and was heading across the state line to nearby Beloit to collect his money. Mayberry, decided to make some quick cash and so bought a hatchet and waited on the road between Beloit and the home of Mr. Alger for his arrival. The date was 16 June 1855. 

When Alger appeared, Mayberry asked for a ride which Alger granted and later as the wagon drove through a copse of woods, Mayberry killed Alger, stashed his body off the road a ways, took his money, papers, clothing and personal possessions, and made his way back to the McComb farm, leaving the wagon about three-fourth of a mile and riding the horse the rest of the way. There, by then drunk, he told the whole story to John McComb, even driving him to the wagon and describing exactly where the body had been left. John, hoping he wouldn't be next, turned around and drove back to his farm where he immediately summoned the authorities who arrived and arrested Mayberry. 

Mayberry was returned to Janesville Wisconsin and his trial was set for July 10, several weeks later. During this period of time, a mob collected three different times outside the jail in an attempt to hang Mayberry for the murder of one of their respected citizens. However, each time the crowd was talked down, persuaded to abandon their attempt and let justice prevail.

At his trial on 10 July 1855, Mayberry's lawyer used the defense that Mayberry was drunk and that everything he told McComb was false, despite the mountain of evidence that showed him otherwise. In a second prong of attack, the lawyer asserted there was no way to prove that the murdered man was Andrew Alger. John McComb and two of his sons Erastus and Halsey all testified at the Mayberry trial and because of their testimony and a mountain of evidence, Mayberry was promptly convicted of the murder of Alger twenty minutes after the jury began deliberations. Court was adjourned until two days later on July 12 when Mayberry was to be sentenced. 

Back in his jail cell after his conviction, it was reported that Mayberry laughed at the crowd gathered outside and then proceeded to eat his supper with much relish and appetite. This of course further inflamed the crowd knowing that Wisconsin did not have the death penalty. The following day, as Mayberry was being ferried once again to the court house for an unmentioned reason, somebody in the watching crowd tossed a noose over his head but a quick thinking Sheriff quickly flipped the road off and hustled the prisoner back to the safety of his jail cell. When the crowd refused to dispurse, a number of special policemen were put on guard duty for the rest of the night.

On the morning of 12 July 1855, Mayberry was sentenced to hard labor for the rest of his natural life at Waupun prison. with the stipulation that for the first 25 days of every year and also for the first five days of every month, Mayberry would get a break from hard labor and spend his time in solitary confinement.  After the sentencing, a large number of people, many who were armed, were situated between the court and the jail and the Sheriff found himself having a hard time securing volunteers to help him escort Mayberry back to his cell. Both the Sheriff and Judge Doolittle addressed the crowd trying to persuade them to go home but to little avail. Two attempts were made by the crowd to storm the courthouse but they were repulsed. Mayberry was then held in the courthouse until two in the afternoon when those in charge finally felt it was safe to return him to the jail. 

With Judge Doolittle in the lead, they started crossing the 100 yards of ground to the jail when a signal was sounded and the mob rushed out of hiding. The mob forcefully carried the judge off to one side and seized Mayberry who fought back but was knocked down and most of his clothes stripped from him. A rope was put around his neck and over the bough of a nearby tree and he was quickly hauled up by the crowd and hung until dead. Justice carried out, the mob dispersed and Mayberry's body was lowered and taken back inside the courthouse.

The trial transcript, coming in at nearly 50 pages, is an interesting read but there is no mention of Lant McComb during any of the trial. The reason for that of course was that Lant was in prison for mail theft during the time of the murder and trial. But it does foreshadow the justice coming for Lant McComb for the murder of Laura Jane Harvey, if only he could be captured.