Homer Croy (1883–1965)

5484. He Hanged Them High An authentic account of the fanatical judge who hanged eighty-eight men, by Homer Croy (read 8 Jul 2017) The author of this book did a lot of work compiling itand he has source notes whch show such work well. It is the story of Isaac C. Parker, who was born 15 Oct 1838 near Barnesville, Ohio,went to St. Joseph, Mo. when he was 21, practiced law there, on 12 Dec 1861 was married in a Catholic church with Father Hennessey (later to be bishop and first archbishop of Dubuque, and whose portrait is in a stained glass window in the Church (St. Joseph) I attend in Sioux City, Iowa) officiating, was elected and re-elected to Congress, ran for U.S. Senator but lost, was appointed Federal Judge for Arkansas by President Grant, and served as such from 19 Mar 1875 till his death on 17 Nov 1896. Most of the book is devoted to telling of criminals who appeared in his court and whom he zealously sentenced to death when they were convicted. One gets the idea he sought to have the juries convict when he thought the defendant was guilty. The author does not appear to be a lawyer and he does not tell much about the legal issues in the cases which he describes, but does set out the evil that the defendants did and that the hangings were public and that Judge Parker would watch the executions from his courthouse window. On balance the book tells quite well the story of Judge Parker and is not unfair to the judge… (mer)