Deputy Marshal Carl Mayes Etherington

Carl Mayes Etherington

Deputy Marshal Carl Etherington was lynched by an angry mob because of his enforcement of prohibition laws.

Licking County, Ohio, had voted to become a dry county, which angered many residents of Newark. Many politicians, including the county sheriff, ignored the law and refused to serve warrants issued for violations of liquor laws. As a result, the Granville mayor deputized numerous deputy marshals, giving them county-wide jurisdiction.

As Deputy Marshal Etherington and other officers attempted to serve a warrant at a saloon they encountered an angry mob. As the deputy marshals attempted to escape for their own protection the group of men captured Deputy Marshal Etherington. To protect himself he shot and killed one of the men, who was a former police officer with Newark. The mob severely beat Deputy Etherington, who was then arrested and beaten further by Newark police officers.

He was taken to the county jail where a mob of approximately 5,000 citizens learned of the shooting. They removed him from the jail and hanged him from a telephone pole near the intersection of 2nd Street and South Park Place.

Twenty citizens were eventually arrested and convicted of his murder.

It was later learned that Deputy Marshal Etherington was only 17-years-old. He was survived by his parents and one sibling.