The Lancaster Daily Intelligencer reported On This Day in 1880 that Pennsylvania “has been stained” by its first lynching. The headline reads, “Murder and Lynch Law” while the sub headline provided more information. It was: “A Man and His Wife Murdered in Cold Blood by a Lustful Boarder Who is Strung Up Without a Judge or Jury.” Jacob Gogle, his wife Annie, and their three children lived in a little hamlet of Santee’s Mills, just north of Bethlehem . The children were ages nine, 12 and 16. They were a quiet little German family. The Gogle family took in a boarder, as many families did to help with expenses. That boarder was 24 year old Joseph Snyder, an ore miner from Easton . Snyder – you can guess where this is going given that sub heading, right? – made frequent improper advances towards Alice, the 16 year old daughter of the Gogles. She complained to her father who had several confrontations with Snyder on the issue. Gogle told Snyder to stop or leave. Then on Satur...
by Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman