In the small town of Rosalie, Nebraska, in the year 1907, a horrific crime shook the community to its core. On a fateful Saturday night, a farmhand named Loris Higgins, using the alias Fred Burke, brutally murdered his employers, Walter and Eva Copple, in front of their seven children. This true historical crime story delves into the events that led to the lynching of Higgins, a chilling tale of vigilante justice in a time when the legal system struggled to keep up with the demands of a rapidly changing society.
Gruesome Murder and The Drunken Farmhand
Loris Higgins, a farmhand working for the Copple family, had been drinking heavily on that fateful Saturday night. Fueled by the alcohol, he made a chilling decision – to end the lives of his employers, Walter and Eva Copple.
• Higgins grabbed a shotgun and went outside, calling for Walter to come out of the house.
• When Walter emerged, Higgins fired both barrels of the shotgun, striking the farmer.
• As Eva came running out to help her husband, Higgins turned the gun on her, firing both barrels and killing her as well.
The Copple children, aged 7 to 16, witnessed the horrific scene unfold before their eyes, a trauma that would undoubtedly haunt them for the rest of their lives.
Higgins proceeded to steal $900, committed a sexual assault against the 13-year-old daughter, and disposed of the bodies of his victims in a hog pen where the pigs mutilated their remains. After that, he mounted a mule and rode away.
Higgins was captured one day later and held in the county jail in Omaha, Nebraska. When he was being transported to Pender, Nebraska, the county seat of Thurston County, where the crime took place, he was accosted by a vigilante mob when his train reached Bancroft, Nebraska, which is 11 miles from Pender.
Lynching by an Angry Mob
Higgins arrived by train in Bancroftat 8:37 a.m., accompanied by Sheriff Sid Young of Thurston County and a deputy. He had been held in Douglas County jail since his arrest shortly after the murders. Upon arrival, the masked group intercepted the train, pushed aside the sheriff and his deputy, placed a noose around Higgins' neck, and transported him to Logan Bridge, a mile west of town, where the lynching took place.
Sheriff Young, faced with a determined masked mob, did not resist forcefully when they took his prisoner. The sheriff displayed visible emotion during the incident, more so than Higgins, who seemed indifferent. Higgins remained composed even as the noose was placed around his neck, calmly stepping off the train amidst the masked crowd. He prayed as he disembarked and continued to do so until the train departed, and he was then loaded onto a waiting wagon.
During the encounter, the sheriff's deputy drew his gun, prompting the mob to instruct him to lower his weapon. When he refused, they disarmed him, knocked him down, and warned him against further resistance.
The mob fastened the rope to the bridge's highest beam. After Higgins made a statement, he was hoisted into the air by the mob, resulting in a loud snap as his neck broke, causing immediate death. Following this, the mob fired forty bullets into his body before revealing their identities and
dispersing into the nearby woods.
The entire event unfolded with minimal commotion and concluded before most residents of Bancroft were aware of the plan.
The Aftermath and Reaction from the Communiity
The lynching of Loris Higgins sent shockwaves through the community of Rosalie. While some residents celebrated the swift and decisive action taken by the mob, others were deeply troubled by the blatant disregard for the rule of law.
• Local authorities, including the sheriff and his deputies, were powerless to stop the mob, and were widely criticized for their perceived inaction.
• The Copple family, who had lost their beloved parents, were left to grapple with the aftermath of the tragedy and the knowledge that the perpetrator had been killed without due process.
The Legal Fallout
The lynching of Loris Higgins was a clear violation of the law, and local authorities were under immense pressure to investigate the incident and hold the responsible parties accountable.
• A grand jury was convened to examine the events leading up to the lynching and to determine if any individuals could be charged with crimes.
• However, the investigation proved challenging, as many of the townsfolk who had been part of the mob refused to cooperate or provide information.
The Ongoing Debate
The lynching of Loris Higgins sparked a wider debate about the role of vigilante justice in American society. On one side, there were those who argued that the legal system had failed to provide adequate justice for the Copple family, and that the mob's actions were a necessary and justified response to the brutality of the crime.
• Others, however, argued that the lynching was a clear violation of the rule of law and that it set a dangerous precedent for the use of extralegal violence to resolve disputes.
Ultimately, the case of Loris Higgins and the Rosalie lynching highlighted the ongoing tension between the demands for swift justice and the need to uphold the principles of due process and the rule of law.
The Rise of Lynching in America
The lynching of Loris Higgins was not an isolated incident, but rather part of a broader trend of vigilante justice that swept across America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As the country underwent rapid industrialization and urbanization, many communities struggled to maintain a sense of order and security.
• Lynchings were often used as a tool to enforce social and racial hierarchies, with marginalized groups, such as African Americans, being disproportionately targeted.
• The rise of lynching was also fueled by a growing distrust of the legal system, which was seen by many as being too slow, ineffective, or biased to deliver the kind of swift and decisive justice that communities demanded.
The Role of the Media
The media played a significant role in shaping public perceptions of lynchings and other acts of vigilante justice. Newspapers and other news outlets often sensationalized these events, portraying them as necessary responses to heinous crimes and presenting the mob as defenders of the community.
• This media coverage, in turn, helped to legitimize and perpetuate the use of extralegal violence as a means of addressing social and criminal problems.
• The case of the Rosalie lynching was no exception, with local newspapers providing extensive coverage of the events and, in some cases, even sympathizing with the mob's actions.
The Struggle for Reform
In the wake of the Rosalie lynching and other similar incidents, there were growing calls for reform and the strengthening of the legal system. Reformers argued that the use of vigilante justice undermined the rule of law and threatened the very foundations of a democratic society.
• Efforts were made to improve the training and resources of law enforcement, as well as to ensure that the judicial system was more responsive and effective in delivering justice.
• However, the road to reform was long and arduous, as entrenched interests and a lack of political will often stood in the way of meaningful change.
The lynching of Loris Higgins in Rosalie, Nebraska, in 1907 was a tragic and complex event that highlighted the deep divisions and tensions within American society at the time. On one hand, the brutal murder of the Copple family sparked outrage and a thirst for swift retribution, leading to the mob's extralegal and violent actions. On the other hand, the lynching itself was a clear violation of the rule of law and raised troubling questions about the role of vigilante justice in a democratic society.
