April 29, 1918

Five followers of Charles Taze Russell (who later came to be referred to as Jehovah’s Witnesses) were jailed in Walnut Ridge (Lawrence County) because of their resistance to the war effort. During World War I, followers of Russell refused to serve in the U.S. armed forces even when they were drafted. Identified as W. B. Duncan, Edward French, Charles Franke, Mr. Griffen, and Mrs. D. Van Hoesen, these five people were assaulted in jail by an angry mob and were whipped, tarred and feathered, and driven from town.