1905 Past and Present
The Whipping Post
During the early history of the county there stood in the court house park, three whipping posts, and we are informed that these were used as instruments of punishment several times. Two of these posts were situated near the northeast corner of the yard, and the other in the southwest corner. Among the culprits who received corporal punishment while closely embracing these posts was Thomas Anderson, who had been convicted of stealing a horse. As he was brought out upon the square a crowd of men and boys gathered around, and a large company of ladies assembled on the second story piazza of a house situated very near where the Hotel Pierson now stands. Sheriff Young Wood had charge of the prisoners, assisted by his deputy, Jacob Fry. The convict was ordered to remove his shirt, and then his hands were drawn up as high as possible and fastened to the top of the post and his feet to the bottom. Then as he buried his face between his upstretched arms the sheriff coolly grasped a heavy rawhide with his distorted hand and commenced slowly to lay the heavy blows upon the bare shoulders of the sufferer. The deputy mentioned stood by and called out as each blow was given, "one, two, three," etc., until fifty long heavy welts were traced upon the culprit's back, horizontally and vertically, checking his flesh into squares like those of a chess board. After the punishment was over the victim declared to the bystanders that his keenest suffering arose from his knowledge of the fact that the ladies witnessed his disgrace.
Extracted 07 Jan 2017 by Norma Hass from Past and Present of Greene County, Illinois, by Ed Miner, published in 1905, page 67.
