January 12, 1915: Pedro Mohundro

Today we learn about a Kentucky lynching through the pages of The Hopkinsville Kentuckian (Hopkinsville, Kentucky) dated January 16, 1915:

NEGRO SHOT TO DEATH

Pedro Mohundro, Who Had Been Ordered to Leave Neighborhood, Killed.

Paducah, Ky., Jan. 15.—The mysterious murder of Pedro Mohundro, a negro tenant on a farm owned by Herbert Rudolph, about four miles from Lovelaceville, in Ballard county, Tuesday night, is being investigated by the authorities of that county. Mohundro was poking a fire in the grate at his home when shot from the attic. Several shots followed in rapid succession and the negro staggered to a bed, across which he fell and died. Mohundro's wife was asleep in the same room, but said she did not see anybody and did not know who fired the shots. All surrounding telephone wires had been cut.

Several persons are believed to have been implicated in the crime. Bloodhounds were secured from Cairo, Ill., but they failed to get the trail. Mohundro had been warned twice in notes to leave the section in which he was living, but was advised by his landlord to remain. The negro had been a resident on Randolph's farm since the latter part of last December and was said to have been a peaceful citizen. He is survived by his wife and nine children.

According to other articles Pedro Mohundro was lynched by night riders. He was the second to be lynched by night riders in western Kentucky with Henry Allen being hanged earlier. Thank you for joining me and as always, I hope I leave you with something to ponder.