Carthage

This week I listened to a recording of Frank Young Taylor.  He recounted the stories he heard from his father, John Taylor.  He told the story of his father’s experience at Carthage Jail in Illinois.  While the jail was being attacked by mob, Taylor survived being shot in the chest by his ever-present pocket watch that deflected the bullet .  He recounted his father's face as he told of the attack, looking at his ripped coat and watching the other inmates in the last moments of their lives.  After the mob left, Taylor was severely wounded and was hid underneath a pile of hay that served as the inmates’ mattress.   Taylor's father had told him his story for the first time when he was a young child and remembers it being told many times again but never as shocking as when he heard it sitting at his father's feet.