Joseph Charless was a prominent citizen in St. Louis, Missouri, a bank president and trustee of Wesminster College in the city. Joseph W. Thornton, a former employee, blamed Charless for the fact that no other bank would employ him. On June 3, 1859, Thornton walked up to Charless on the street and fired two shots. An attempt was made to lynch Thornton but the fatally wounded Charless himself helped prevent this. Thornton was tried the following September, found guilty, and hanged at the St. Louis Jail on November 11, 1859. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge for the Year 1860 (Boston: Crosby, Nichols, and Company, 1860), 390.
Michael Montgomery Fisher, John Jay Rice, History of Westminster College, 1851-1903 (Columbia, MO: E. W. Stephens, 1903), 41.
Michael Montgomery Fisher, John Jay Rice, History of Westminster College, 1851-1903 (Columbia, MO: E. W. Stephens, 1903), 41.
Record Data
Date Certainty
Exact
Type
Crime/Disasters
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