July 15, 1914

A large crowd of people gathered in Paris (Logan County) for the hanging of John Arthur Tillman. The sheriff had his men under instructions to shoot anyone who might get close to the jail because of rumors that Tillman would be rescued by an armed party. One rumor, reported in the Arkansas Gazette, was that Tillman’s father had recently purchased a high-powered rifle and ammunition, not to rescue his son but to assassinate him in order to spare him the ordeal of hanging. Arthur Tillman was the last person executed by hanging in the state of Arkansas. Accused of murdering a girlfriend, Tillman insisted upon his innocence to the day of his death.