The Wabash Hanging: 6,000 Witnesses (Part 4)

In 1870s Wabash, Indiana, nearly half the county's population—6,000 people—gathered in a cold rain to watch a man hang. They tore down the scaffold's wooden walls for a better view. They chanted for blood. And when John Hubbard finally dropped through the trap door, 500 people rushed forward to touch his swinging body as a charm against witchcraft.

But the grotesque spectacle didn't end with Hubbard's death. Despite promises to the contrary, local doctors stole his corpse, dissected it, reassembled the skeleton, and displayed it in a drugstore window. The bones eventually ended up in a high school closet for 60 years. They're now on display at the Wabash County Museum—with the top of the skull removed.

This is the final chapter of the French Family Murders: a story of frontier justice, mob mentality, body snatching, and the disturbing question of what happens when an entire town becomes complicit in revenge. The bones of John Hubbard still tell a story, but his own words were burned before he could speak them.

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Show Notes: In This Episode:

• How 6,000 people crammed into a town of 14,000 to witness an execution
• The terrifying moment Hubbard's knees buckled on the gallows
• Why 500 people touched his hanging corpse as a "charm against witchcraft"
• The night doctors stole Hubbard's body and divided it among themselves
• How his skeleton ended up in a high school closet for 60 years
• The book burning that destroyed Hubbard's final testimony
• What happened to Sarah Hubbard and their son Richard
• Why the bones are still on display today in Wabash

Key Figures:

• John Hubbard - Executed for the French Family Murders
• Sarah Hubbard - Wife, sentenced to life in Indianapolis prison
• Reverend Townsend - Baptist minister traumatized by witnessing the execution
• Dr. James Ford - Local physician who created the death mask
• Richard Hubbard - Son declared "state idiot," lived harmless life in Fort Wayne

Timeline:

• 1870s: Day of execution - 6,000 gather in rain and cold
• 2:00 PM: Hubbard parts with wife for final time
• 2:30 PM: Execution carried out early due to unruly mob
• That night: Doctors steal body from burial site
• Days later: Skeleton displayed in LaFountain drugstore window
• 1900s: Sarah Hubbard interviewed as elderly woman, refuses to discuss case
• 1960s: Bones discovered in high school closet during demolition
• Present: Hubbard's remains displayed at Wabash County Museum

Tags: Wabash Indiana history, public execution 1870s, French Family Murders, John Hubbard hanging, frontier justice, body snatching history, true crime Indiana, forgotten American history, local history podcast, 19th century executions, mob justice, anatomical dissection, Wabash County, Midwest history

Category: History

Chapter Markers: 0:00 - The Rain and the Mob: 6,000 Gather for Death 3:00 - Inside the Cell: Final Moments with Sarah Hubbard 7:00 - The Scaffold: "String Him Up!" 12:00 - 16 Minutes of Strangulation 17:00 - Body Snatching: Doctors Break Their Promise 22:00 - The Book Burning: Silencing the Dead 26:00 - What Happened to the Hubbard Family 29:00 - The Bones in My Studio

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