Lynching of Carl Etherington
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Carl Etherington, a teenager hired by the Anti-Saloon League to enforce prohibition laws in Licking County, Ohio, was lynched on the night of July 8, 1910, following raids on several saloons.[1][2] Seventeen-year-old Etherington, a former Marine from Kentucky, was part of a group of special agents were tasked with raiding Licking County saloons that were violating the county's ban on alcohol sales.[1][3] On July 8, Etherington and his fellow agents were assigned to execute search and seizure warrants in three Newark, Ohio saloons.[3] Altercations between agents and saloon owners and patrons followed, and a violent mob soon formed.[3] After becoming separated from his fellow detectives, Etherington shot saloon owner and former police captain William Howard in self-defense, which led to his arrest.[1][2] Later that night, the mob broke into Etherington's cell and dragged him outside, where they beat him and hanged him.[1][2]
In 1908, twelve years prior to U.S. Prohibition, the Ohio Legislature passed the Rose County Local Option Act, which gave individual counties the power to regulate the sale of alcoholic beverages.[1] In January 1909, Licking County residents voted to "go dry" by a margin of 708 votes.[2] But in the county seat of Newark, voters were in favor of allowing alcohol sales by a margin of 1,557 votes.[2] Despite the county-wide ban on alcohol sales, Newark saloons remained open and had the support and patronage of local law enforcement and politicians.[2] According to at least one newspaper report from the time, Newark's mayor and police chief had an under-the-table deal with bar owners, who paid them $10 weekly to continue to sell alcohol.[1]
In the face of such corruption, the Anti-Saloon League, a national organization that advocated for the prohibition of alcohol, created private police forces to enforce antiliquor laws.[3][4] Carl Etherington was one of these "secret agents."[2]