Laura Jane Harvey Murder: Part Seventeen

Although few details were offered, McComb and Taylor weren't on the lamb for long and the Sheriff and a posse of seven men caught up with the pair about two miles south of Portland in Van Buren county, about 20 miles away, three days after their escape. The Sheriff and the posse successfully brought the pair back the same day and ensconced them back in their cells with their shackles once more back on. Four days later, another mob started forming.

An estimated 300 men, mostly from Wapello county but a few as far away as Keokuk county, began forming in an attempt to bring about justice in the form of hanging McComb. According to witnesses, many were from the July mob that had unsuccessfully tried the same thing. But when the mob made it's way to the jail, they found it well guarded, they had second thoughts about retrieving McComb by force and so appointed a committee to request that Sheriff Derby resign his office or at least put up a resemblance of a fight why they stripped the keys from him. 

Derby of course replied that he would not only not resign, but he would defend the jail at the risk of his life and would do so until the last extremity. The mob was ordered to disperse and after the committee and a few others conferred with themselves, the concluded that was probably the best outcome for now and after issuing threats that they would return with even more people to retrieve McComb from his cell, they left. 

The following week, an article in the newspaper, shows that the stir caused by the second attempted lynching had died down and as perhaps expected, finger pointing was now going on as to how McComb and Taylor escaped from the jail. This finally elicited a response from Sheriff Derby who wrote a letter to be published in the newspaper and it was as follows:

"Permit me through your columns to correct a grossly wrong impression that some persons have got, either through false impressions or a desire that it should be so in regard to a lack of care or neglect of duty on the part of my Deputy, H. B. Jones, in connection with the escape of my prisoners, McComb and Taylor. There never could be a charge more unjust and unfair than to attach the least blame to him in the matter. He has, as Deputy, in every particular in my absence, managed the affairs about the jail strictly in accordance with my directions, and any mismanagement in regard to trusting the keys where my family could have access to them is attributable to no one but myself and any effort to implicate him in the matter is gotten up for no other political purposes by designing men or want of knowledge of the facts, and I sincerely hope that at least no friend of mine or his will suffer themselves to be prejudiced by these false impressions that are afloat. I have no desire that any other person should bear any part of the blame for the neglect and proper precaution in keeping the keys out of reach of the boy.  - G. A. Derby"